


The Beginning of The End

by Daiten



Category: Toaru Majutsu no Index | A Certain Magical Index
Genre: Comedy, Gen, Supernatural Elements, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 24,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25169680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daiten/pseuds/Daiten
Summary: The resident's of Academy City returned from war in England. Ready to reintegrate back into their regular lives in the City of science. But a dark shadow has already been looming over the city ever since Aliester Crowely took his Last breath. Let us follow the story that lead up to the End.(NT onward spoilers)
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Touma: "Dammit,this is ridiculous. How are we supposed to defeat a monster like that? It's impossible to get out of here with our lives"

Othinus: " Quiet down human, this situation might be dire but you've been through worst. Just access the problem at hand and think up of a plan."

That 15cm, once was a magic god doll, spoke to him in a calm and collected voice,as if the event's going on didn't affect her. She too knew and sympathized with her understander words but refused to say it out loud. A word from her would be the added pressure on a submarine that would finally breaks it's glass. She wanted to avoid that outcome no matter the cause. So she relied on false hope. Moral is a double edge sword after all,it's the greatest enemy to a person while still being their greatest strength. It all depends on perspective.

Touma: "I know you are saying this to reassure me but it's not helping. It's kinda having the opposite effect. The more I assess the more I realize how royally screwed we are. The situations I've been in all had a percentage of winning, even if it was small but this...it's...it's just a bad match up here. Accelerator and I compliment each other in this situation but that regeneration is just too much,he is the perfect punching bag for taking on punishment from a magic god and I'm helpless against them.

The situation here was truly terrifying. Kamijou might be one for joking but this wasn't something that can be played off as a joke unless it was used as a coping mechanism. Kamijou uses his assessment of problems as one of these coping mechanisms but it wasn't working here. It wasn't because it was so bizarre and incredible...no it was because it was so simple. Think of it as when you're doing a question you know the answer too but for the life of you it's impossible to recall it. You rack your brains over and over to the point you get a headache. Some people are unable to do anything else until they find the answer.

Touma: " Accelerator you got any bright ideas here man."

As he asked that question he turned around to check on that white hair rank #1 boy. 'Am I the only sane one here' he thought. Said boy wasn't paying attention to him or the situation. Instead he was talking to that anthropomorphic bat octopus demon girl while holding a passed out small brown hair girl in his arms, who he came to know as Last Order . Kamijou doesn't know much about his relationship with those girls aside from him being close to them... but he hasn't really asked him anything about his life hasn't he.'Why am I thinking of that' he asked himself. The look on that demon's face brought a familiar solemn feeling to him, as he watched them converse he got scared... maybe...

?: "I'm losing my patience over here"

Kamijou twisted his head abruptly in the direction of that voice,subconsciously screaming 'I FRIGGIN HATE VAMPIRES!'

**A couple of Months ago**

14th December 12:00 AM

After interfering with the board of directors boardroom meeting and declaring his position as the new Academy City Board Chairman,Accelerator rested in a black leather chair at the top end of a glass table with his feet disrespectfully placed on it, lazily scanning through the smartphone that was proof he was the king of Academy City. Beside him floating to the right was an somewhat anthropomorphic bat octopus demon girl he met in England,with a wicked smile plastered on her face she watched him.

Demons are a type of supernatural being, often with considerable power and influence, found in many of the world's religions, mythologies and folklore, and connected to certain forms of magic. When an angel stray from God's will, they become fallen angels and are subsequently confined to the realm known as Hell.

?: So master, what is the plan from here on? You've already declared yourself the next successor of Academy City. What will be your first action taking on the role of Board Chairman? Nee Ee hee hee hee. "

Plenty of stories and beliefs centering demons has magicians and ordinary people contracting them and commanding them to do their bidding, people who make those deals with demons do so to obtain something often in exchange for their very soul. But his relationship with her was not one where he had to give up anything. No. She survived an attack from the previous Board chairman Aliester Crowley and was recovering, during that moment of defensiveness she was approached by Accelerator with the offer of a contract as an adviser on magic or be sentenced to death.

The major source of light in that dimly lit room,the smartphone, swayed upwards hitting the ceiling,showing the Specks of dust crossing the vertical path of light floating in the room.

Accelerator: "...*sigh*,I've been thinking long and hard about this. I know what I want to achieve and how I'm going to do it but there are so many paths to take. The sole blame for Academy City's state of being isn't just Aliesters or the Board of directors,I too played a part in this. I contributed to it's fucked up nature."

Once that was said he re-positioned the phone to face him again,revealing his prominent facial features of shoulder length White moppy hair with blood red eye's that feel like they are staring into the depths of your soul and a face that was pale as a ghost. It would be hard to distinguish if he was truly a boy if not for his voice. He continued to comprehend the blocks of text displaying on the screen and started back the conversation.

Accelerator: " So my move would be to deal with my bad rep as well as the other level 5's. The seven of us all act as the poster children of Academy city, we are what the other lower level espers look up too as the pinnacle of an esper. With their cooperation things should be a lot easier.

Academy City's esper powers have a foundation in quantum physics. Quantum physics is useful in describing the behavior of subatomic particles like protons and electrons as well as the four fundamental forces. Academy City's espers forcibly alter reality to draw out phenomena that cannot be explained with Newtonian physics. In other words, supernatural phenomena. Drugs, electricity, suggestion, and other methods are used to distort how people perceive the world and that forces them to make observations outside of the norm. By bringing that from the microscopic and up to the macro world by the use of a filter known as a Personal Reality to distort the esper's perception,esper powers a made reality.

That anthropomorphic demon smile grew, even though it shouldn't really be possible for that but do remember she is a demon. Their make is different from a human or anything of this world.

?: " Heh. An esper is an individual enrolled in the Academy City Power Curriculum Program who emits an AIM(An Involuntary Movement),this phenomena of emission is known as an AIM Diffusion Field and is closely connected to the Personal Reality. which is the source of their abilities and their capacity to substitute reality with their own ,it is basically an esper's unconscious interference with reality. Neeeee hee hee hee "

?: " The espers Level is categorized by their abilities which determines how much a student has advanced in the Power Curriculum Program. Levels are determined through the System Scan which is a regular city-wide testing event in Academy City to determine their power levels. Level 0, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5. 80% of the city, a total of 1.8 million people, were ranked into those six categories."

?: "Level o's are those who cannot be considered completely powerless, but are considered one of the so-called "students that can't keep up at school". They Might possess some degree of power, but are unable to truly control it. Level 1's who have Powers of the degree to bend a spoon. Level 2's who's Just like Level 1's but their powers are not very useful in everyday life."

?: " 3's,the degree when powers are considered convenient in everyday life, ability-wise this is the Level when one starts to be treated as part of the elite. Powers of an extent that their wielder acquires tactical value of a military force are Level 4's"

?: " And Powers of an extent that their wielder can fight alone against a military force on equal terms are known as Level 5's who's talent is only seen in 7 people within Academy City. Of those 7, Is-"

Accelerator: "..."

?: "Nee heee ,What? You didn't forget I'm an artificial demon that was created by Coronzon as a weapon to be used against Aleister Crowley?

Yes that translucent, barefooted girl with thin wings, tentacle-like tail, pointy ears and a hole in her forehead. Wearing a discolored English newspaper shoulder less dress, made from a collection of trash. With a small yet curved frame, alluring individual parts that make her proportions imbalanced,is an artificial demon. Floating by his side her straight rainbow-colored hair which spreads outwards before curling in at the ends, looking like an umbrella swayed back and forth as she moved her head. Her mouth has that typical large grin on it.

The contents on the newspaper dress which were sewn together into a long skirt with slits and a shape resembling petals,Silver duct tape that is tightly wrapped around her chest and hips with glass shards in place of jewels and thumbtacks acting as fasteners as well as several brown ribbons in a pattern similar to the structure of the Qliphoth changed. Depending on who is looking at her, they would reveal that person's life story.

With a stern voice and eye's locked on to her, he responded.

Accelerator: "Qliphah puzzle 545,did I ask you for a useless and excessive exposition dump?"

Qliphah puzzle 545: "Ee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee nee. Oh master,have you forgotten I'm from the magic side. Giving an excess amount of exposition is in my nature and it isn't useless; it adds a depth of flavor to this fanfic."

Accelerator responded with a click of his tongue and continued with his reading of Aliester's data. It was a long line of information. There were neatly catalogs of some of the major events that occur in and outside of the city such as the two Level 6 shift,level upper incident, Aureolus Izzard breach,Orsola Aquinas Rescue _,_ Daihasei Festival incident,Baggage City uprising,Angel Fall and Dainoid lock down.

' I knew there was some underground plot going on but I never gave any of them a second thought...things are different now.' He gritted his teeth and squeezed his phone almost like he wanted to shatter them. This is what his incompetence as #1 allowed to fester.

Accelerator's thumb which he used to move the data on the screen suddenly stopped. His eye's narrowed and slowly contorted, changing into one of slight intrigue.

Accelerator: "Hmm...?"

Qliphah puzzle 545: "What? Found something interesting?"

Qliphah puzzle 545: "Ohh! I know,you've found tons of images of Aliester naked girl form in there. My oh my I didn't know you were into gender bending hee he he."

Swaying her tentacle-like tail side to side with her right hand placed in front of her mouth like showing table manners, Britain style,hiding her smile that reached the ends of her ears. She floated from his right side to his left three times, finally stopping behind him cackling.

Accelerator removes his left hand from the arm rest and throws it backwards at a 90 degree angle while forming the Fairy Tale "I'm always looking at you" sign with his hand.

A sticky wet sound was heard vibrating through the room,almost as if they were in a cave.

Qliphah puzzle 545: "I'M SORRY,I'M SORRY, I'M SORRYYYY I said you like seeing girl Aliester naked form,that was bad on my part. I know you get off more from Aliester not gender bending(Male form).

Another finger(Two fingers in her head hole)

Qliphah puzzle 545: Ahh uhhgg! I-I-I I'm sorrryyy master! Please take your finger out of my head hole. This is pretty provocative when you think about it from an hentai standpoint. "

Another finger(Three fingers in her head hole)

At this point it became questionable if this artificial demon got off from this shit. I mean masochism is a thing and who are we to judge,we all got weird fetishes.

After a few seconds of intense fingering(sorry for the sexual joke) He went back to reading the data displayed on the screen. Qliphah puzzle 545 after managing to recover,decided to take a look at what actually gained her stuck up master's attention.

Qliphah puzzle 545: "Ohh. I see, I remember her. Wearing a checkered pattern shirt isn't gonna stimulate you,master."

Her precious head hole was once more violated,this time with four fingers. How did he pull it off? just don't question it or me,then again does she really have any rights to talk about others clothing.

School District 7 is a large school district near the center of Academy City. It primarily focuses on middle school and high school institutions,it contains the previous base of the Academy City's Chairman, the Windowless Building as well as the special area for the prestigious all-girl schools, School Garden.

School District 7,High School dorms,seventh floor of the apartment building, Kamijou Residence. In the kitchen area resided Touma Kamijou a level zero esper who just returned from England. He was cooking something special for his fellow house residents,who were sadly, no good free loaders.

One of them was a girl version of a Norse God,Odin who appeared to be 14 years old. Her name was Othinus and she wore eye-patch over her right eye and her left was a glittery green colour with a slit-like iris. She has wavy blond hair that reaches tailbone length with a wide brimmed hat with a pointed tip. Dressed in a revealing outfit with a low-cut neckline that goes down below her navel and a long cape, she appeared more of a witch than Odin.

The other resident was Index, a 16 year old simple nun. She has thigh length, silver hair and large green eyes. Her outfit is white nun dress with gold highlights,being holed together with pins and a modified nun's habit with gold embroidering. It is referred to as the Walking Church, an accurate replica of the Holy Shroud of Turin and offered Index ultimate protection from most attacks, however thanks to it being destroyed by Touma, it's ineffective.

Index: "Touma Touma,hurry up I'm hungry. When will it be finished?"

Touma: " *Sigh* No matter how much you harass me the Roast Pork won't cook itself faster in the oven. Just wait a bit longer, the Red wine sauce is reducing,it should be finish by then,ok"

Index: "GRuMBLE GRuMBLE GRuMBLE! Fine."

All Index could do in that moment was pout and lay her head on the table,eagerly awaiting her sweet prize"

Othinus: " Is food the only thing you can think of?"

Othinus: " Ohh and human,do not use any mushrooms in that dish"

Touma tried his best to stifle his laughter but failed to do so. At the sound of too small noise,as if a knocking sound from a person's knuckle, Touma went to silence. His face contorted into one filled with a foreboding sense of anxiety. He knew all too well that there was not someone at his dorm door,It was after midnight after all,the only person he could think of it being is his bastard of a friend Tsuchimikado but he hasn't seen him around for a while now. But since when does that dude knocks on his door and patiently waits. No,that fearful sound came from the jaws of an evil demon lord who goes by the name Index. One hit of her teeth against each other, That was all it took to scare that boy who faced Magicians,Gods,Magical items,Angels,foot soldiers,Demons and Saints every week,just one hit of her teeth against each other.

That was his first warning

A minute passed and Touma was bringing a huge plate holding a succulent Roast Pork with him. He rested it on the table where everyone was drooling in anticipation of the meal but he told Index to wait until he got the utensils and sit with them.

He started off by slicing the Roast Pork twice horizontally 1-2 inches thick,he gave one to Index and cut his vertical and horizontally forming a 2 by 2 cm slice to give to Othinus in her plastic doll plate. He took the remaining 1/4th of the slice for himself and gave the shallow wide box remains to their(Index) calico cat Sphynx.

Normally it would be a chore to get a plate for the Norse god girl,since she is 15cm. It's basically because he was too lazy to clean a plate that only had a 1cm serving of food. He resorted to sharing plate, but that went as well as trying to not step on ants when walking. He managed to get his hands on a doll figures plastic plate from another bastard friend named Aogami Pierce.

His arrival to Academy city was quite late but thanks to Coronzon's intervention it wasn't odd. Aliester Crowley's alert about the shutdown of the city, scattered everyone,causing them to venture outside of Academy city. when it was safe to return everyone came rushing back to relive their normal life. This meant his friend returned and was probably up. He called him to ask if he had any, to which he said 'uh yea of course I do' really it was stupid to ask that, if anyone he knew in Academy City to have a doll pate, it would obviously be him. He didn't question where it was or what he did with it,that boy's imagination was quite terrifying. When he gets home he would be using several different cleaning appliances just in case. What she doesn't know wont hurt her.

Index immediately dug into her meal after clasping her hands and bowing,shouting 'Thanks for the meal!' Even though she knew it was outside her norm Index slowly sliced into her Roast pork and slid the fork into her mouth,savoring the wonderful flavour that she knew won't happen ever again. Her face lit up afterwards and she gave a smile that can only be described as cute.

Index: " H-Hey,this isn't normal Roast Pork. I-is this potatoes? I never knew potato Roast Pork would be this delicious."

Touma: "Yup, I wanted to cut back on the excessive amount of meat,so I opted to use potatoes. They act as a good supplement and it also sucks up the sauce amazingly well. I really outdid myself,Hehe. Thanks Food Wars."

Kamijou is actually a dirt poor high schooler,it takes every coin he has just to support himself ,make it worse he has to deal with the bottomless pit that is Index, 'I have to carry her to a doctor one of these days to see if she has a worm or something cause she's grinding me into the ground.' So, the idea of buying all these expensive ingredients and cooking them was an extremely far far far far off thought.

During his walk from District 23's airline to the shopping area because they were getting hungry(Mostly Index) and the city wide shut down ruined any refrigerated meal,so it was necessary. Kamijou received an email from an unknown account wiring a moderate amount of money to him,there was a message attached telling him to don't expect anymore. Now, Kamijou wouldn't normally accept money like that,and if he did; he would most certainly save it, but since he went through several days without any sleep, helping people with their problems and even fought himself, he decided to just spoil himself just this one. ' Maybe Aliester isn't as bad as I thought'

Othinus: "As far as I'm aware you would eat just about anything."

Touma recalled the first day he met Index. It was the morning after his tussle with the #3 level 5 Misaka Mikoto where she caused a district wide blackout. Index was hanging on his balcony,belly resting on the guard rail begging him to feed her. With nothing really there he gave her a yakisoba bread he accidentally stepped on as well as any old refrigerated ingredient he could find. Surprisingly she gobbled that all up without a second thought.

Touma: *Whispered*"Yea, ain't that the truth"

He let out a small laugh after reminiscing about the past and saying that but...

Like a boiling pot of water Index anger rose

Index: " Toumaaaaa,what did you just say?"

Touma nervously Laughs,waviing his hand as if saying'nothing'

She was honestly being rhetorical here,she heard everything he said. This was just something people do,Othinus response to it just turned a possible avoidable situation unavoidable though.

Othinus: "He said "Yea, ain't that the truth" to you."

He quickly stifled the it.*Clad* That was that boy's second and final warning. She launched herself at him and chomped on that poor boy's head as if she was a dog with rabies.

Kamijou ran back and forth in the small apartment screaming 'Ahhh ahhh!,why me? Why me? Why would you betray me Othinus?' about on his third lap he stumped his right toe and felled to the ground.

Touma: "Eah ah. Is this it? Is this the end of Kamjiou Touma the normal high school boy with the power to break illusions by punching men,women,child gods,demons,saints,traps,robots,people with high social status and nuns in the face?"

Othinus: " Oh be quiet human,last time I checked that girl mounting you is a nun and you never punched a god. Also I said no mushrooms,do not forget I am a god."

Touma: *Whispers*" A god who gets mounted and played with by a cat."

The next day was all a blur for Kamijou,Lets just say Othinus didn't take kindly to those words and Index wasn't letting up.

District 7, Tokiwadai middle school located in the School Garden. It is one of the five most prestigious schools of Academy City and is said to be the most renowned girls' school in the world,entry there requires esper abilities Level 3 or higher. The school currently contains a total of around 180 students, of the 180 students, there are currently 2 Level 5 espers, 47 Level 4 espers, and the rest being Level 3's.

The lady's of Tokiwadi were all returning back to Academy City from their trip to the Indonesian island of Bali,well except two that is. When the City was shut down all those prestige girls did travel to Bali but due to a certain phone call Two of those girls left without telling anyone.

A flat chested small skinny girl in her Tokiwadi uniform with tawny hair tied into two curly pigtails which are tied in place by a red bow each with the rest of her hair being left to hang. Was the first to talk in her group.

Kuroko: "Ne, Onee-sama? Why did you leave without telling me? You know I would follow you to the depths of hell and back if need be. On that note why did You go with that mind reader tramp? Were you planning on cheating on me? Did Kuroko do something bad? NE NE NE. Tell me? Tell me Tell meee?"

Kuroko was more moody than usual do to seeing her beloved onee-sama being violated by the 5# level 5 Shokuhou Misaki.'Unforgivable,how dare she defile her' was the strongest thought going through her mind.

?: "For the last time that's not it Kuroko and we never were a thing"

Well it was half of it actually. She didn't want to bring her friend with cause she cares too much about her,if she was to be hurt or punished for ditching her classmates to go to England so be it,the added bonus was that Misaki would also be there to suffer along with her.

Misaki: " Oh come on Misaka-san,just tell her how it is, you-"

Those words that were abruptly interrupted came from Shokuhou Misaki who was dressed in white bikini over a much skimpier swimsuit that was essentially nothing but string covered by a translucent raincoat,these all act intandem to accentuate her golden starry eye's,long golden hair and large breast. The added kicker was her shoulder bag with a star adorned on the middle that erotically tightens her body.

Misaka: "Mind your own business would you"

Just like Misaki, Misaka Mikoto wasn't dressed in her Tokiwadi attire, instead she wore a blue one-piece swimsuit. This also made her chestnut hair with a two little flower design hair clip and eye pop.

Misaki: "Well that was pretty rude of you,Misaka-san."

She gave a pouting face that was obviously fake.

Misaka: "I don't wanna hear it,you're the root cause for making her mind veer off into the infidelity direction!"

?: "Well well well,Looks like the two absenteeism children have finally arrived,dressed in the same attire from Bali no less."

A sudden chill ran down their spine,indicating a dangerous creature was lurking behind them. It's eye's as predatory as a lions,talons as sharp as an eagle, movements as swift as vipers and jaws as powerful as a crocodile. One false move felt like it can result in death.

Misaka & Misaki: "Aah aah,we um"

?: "Save it for later,your punishment comes first;and I know just the right one to deal with children who can't stay in one spot."

Misaka & Misaki: "Yes dorm manager"

They both bowed their head in defeat. Going agaisnt this women would be like opposing a Titan without an ODM gear.

Dorm Manager: "Good girls now wait right here. All other students are to be in their rooms,it is already past curfew. You to Miss Shirai."

Kuroko: "Y-yes mam"

She too submitted. Just how terrifying is this woman?

District 7,Area unknown,Item apartment. The four resident's who share this apartment were now on the sofa,preparing to watch a movie together. One of them However didn't feel up to it. He was the only male in the group and he just wanted to go to bed. The event's of these past 3 days didn't give much room to sleep, so he wanted to enjoy some good nighttime rest when he had it before something bad happens that he is accidentally involved in. This is Academy City after all,and things never get dull here.

His trip to England to stop Coronzon didn't end so well. He was, first separated with his companions,before trying to enjoy a romantic night with his girlfriend harassed by two perverted Magic Gods,saved a betrayed enemy and betrayed his companion for said girl. In all seriousness it was more stupid than brave,but it was adorable and sweet of him to do that.

?: "Again if you wanna go,then Super go Hamazura. No one is forcing you. Are you hoping to get Takitsubo to cuddle with you or something,gross."

Yes,this boy's name was Hamazura Shiage. He was an ordinary teenager with unruly blonde hair wearing an orange hoodie with white strips running across his arms in a vertical pattern ending at front end of his humerus cause he rolled up his sleeve. Under it was a normal plane white school shirt that wasn't tucked into his blue jean pants.

Hamazura's face turned a light pink colour in response to the question and began to sway his hands up and down in unison in a playing drum like manner speaking as if he was a child whining to his mother he doesn't want to be babied.

Hamazura: " I didn't say it for provocative reasons,fine I'm going."

The girl who skillfully got her number one nuisance to leave, so she could enjoy a B Movie with her teammates was a young girl of 12 years with short brown hair in a bobcut style,wearing a fluffy knit sweater dress with no leg-wear other than striped socks, exposing her thighs and legs.

?: "Sorry Hamazura,I want to watch the movie,Kinuhata said it's the best,later,ok."

All this was said in a dead-like tone from his girlfriend,Takisubo Rikou . She wore a very often tired look,wearing a pink track suit that functioned as casual wear and sleepwear for her with black hair cut evenly at shoulder length."

?: "So,what's the name of this so call "Best B Movie"?

Kinuhata: " Ohho,*Smirk* "I am Legend" not the 20th century remake with Will Smith,the Super original from the 90's."

?: " There was an early version of that? I know about the book but I didn't know that the 2007 version was a remake."

Kinuhata: " You're Super older than me,Mugino! How do you not know that?!"

Kinuhata was whining against the oldest of the three girl's,Mugino Shizuri with a tall and slender figure in gray pants, a skinny belt and brown boots. She has soft tea-colored hair and had a knack for stylish clothing. She was wearing a yellowy jacket over a red shirt with a black bolo tie, underneath a camisole.

Mugino: "You're the one who is a Movie buff,not me. Besides B and C Movie's are your go too."

Takitsubo: " Yea,she's right. You are the Movie while Hamazura is the perverted,me the cute and Mugino the housewife."

What's really wrong with the people of this City pissing off the wrong people.

Mugino: " Ta. Kit. Su. Bo."

Mugino latched on to that tired girl's face pitching and turning her cheeks with pure virtuosity. If Takisubo was more expressive in the facial and verbal category, you would've believed me?

Takisubo: " Ggah gghahaa, I'm sorry I wont say it again."

Mugino: " What the hell, I only do those shit to calibrate my prosthetic body parts. Err ahh I'm leaving."

During her fight with Hamazura,the only male in their group, her power went out of control and she damaged the right side of her body. Now she relies on prosthetic's in her right eye and hand to carry out normal everyday activities.

Kinuhata: " Ahh super don't go,I already popped in the movie, Ahhh! Takitsubo "

Takitsubo: "My bad,are you going to watch the movie still?"

Academy City,sky view look,An altitude of 8,850 meters above. Two mysterious figures were somehow standing there watching over the City of Science. One of them was a girl who looked to be about 10 years old. She had purple eyes and long reddish-blonde hair which reached her ankles, rolled into large ringlet curls and squished flat at the ends into several fried shrimp shapes,with rose decorations throughout. That girl, Anna Sprengel wore a gaudy red dress which was too big for her, and had to be held to avoid falling off, barefooted and sitting atop someone else's shoulder.

It was hard to distinguish if it was a boy or girl but their appearance was apparently a golden haired being, with a tall and thin stature. It appeared to be wearing entirely loose white clothing. Its expression is also difficult to ascertain, having a mix of happiness, sadness, grief, and anger,it's emotions are completely different to humans. Apart from it's outwards display the only thing known about it was its name,Aiwass.

Anna: " Hee hee, Things seem to be going array from my predicted plan when that woman,Madame Horos sealed me away."

Aiwass: " Getting enjoyment from failure,you truly are a weird girl. But I guess I cannot judge you,as I too am the same."

Anna: "You and I are nothing alike. The mere thought of you comparing us and saying we view the world through the same lens disgusts me;as similar to purposely causing acid reflux"

Aiwass: " Those are some hurtful words, but you are not wrong. We view the world differently on a fundamental level"

Anna: "Yes. That I can agree on. Now to business. Did you find it? The answer out of your mouth better be yes,I've been severely disappointed in you,your efforts lack passion"

Aiwass: " Yes, I have actually. It was harder than I originally thought it would be but non the less I succeeded. Did I won your praise?"

Anna: "Silence you fool, It would take more than that. You were giving several orders before I left,and you only carried out two,barley managing one."

Aiwass: "I would say taking long barely fits in that context,semantics are quite unique."

Anna: "... Whatever fool"

She stared down at the city that separated itself from Tokyo,smiling at the elaborate plans she has in store for it.

Anna: "hehheheheh neee. Enjoy you're leisurely time of happiness,children of Crowley. Very soon those days will come to an end,you will know nothing but despair and later give birth to my precious enemy"

Anna: " HE HE HEHEHE EEE"

So starts the beginning of the end.

Me again. So please comment and give pointers to this hopeless writer. I'm trying to write an alternative route to the one taken in GT(I'll use the spill bean idea later). The other series will be called Misadventures of Last Order,A certain talk and School life(Has nothing to do with this story). I might start them some time early or after this story but,STAY TUNE.


	2. False peace

15th December 9:30 AM

A world devoid of light, completely pitch black, but despite so, a slender boy's form dressed in a black and white shirt with gray pants could be seen.

His head was hanging downwards, casting a shadow over his eye's from the moppy bangs and making it rather hard to tell what kind of facial expression he currently had.

Through his eyes, he saw a woven wall of snow white and when he blinked, he felt something change and along with it came small water droplets.

Not only that, his hands felt a strange but familiar sensation.

'...'

He sluggishly moved his hands and when he stared at them, they were... soaked red...with...blood...who's?

Slowly, he rose his head from his hand and looked forward. There, not even a meter away, he saw a person, a girl.

She laid motionless on the floor.

Her hair was a light chestnut color and around her temple was a broken military goggle. She was of short height with cream fair skin and eyes so blank that they appear soulless.

" Eee Gya."

A single sound broke the dead silence. It was more of a titter than actual laughter, but as it kept on continuing...

"Hya hya Eya Eya Eya!"

"Ehehehehehe!

"Gyhahahaha!"

At each cackle of laughter, his shoulders jolted and the scene before him changed. All with that same middle school girl and as they continued, those bursts of laughter just got higher and higher each passing scene.

Looking into her eyes as he squeezed the last bit of breath from her bloodied lips.

Her stomach and Womb sticking out, exposing her insides to the waxing gibbous moon.

listening to the trickle of blood as he holds her dismembered head by her tangled silky hair.

Watching as her Bodily fluids get forcefully ejected. Having chunks of her fat, organs, and body part smeared on the floor and the walls in a blood splatter pattern, leaving only the lower half of her carcass intact.

All Her bones expertly pulverized within her body while she's still alive, leaving nothing but a hunk of flesh, organs, and nerves behind.

Her skull mangled by his hands with her eyes popped out, mandible Hanging by a small strand of cartilage, and squished dense grey sponge chunks sticking onto the splintered skull bones.

It just goes on and on and on, with his only expression being one of pure and unadulterated bliss.

Then suddenly it went back to black again and his laughter quieted.

Standing in the black space in confusion, he heard mumble sounds of breathing and felt odd sensations of weight around his left and right arms and at his chest downwards to his leg.

But when he looked around, there was nothing there with him in that black void.

He was sure of that but as those feelings intensified, he began to feel disjointed and distant from the space until his eyes twitched open and the ceiling was the first thing to greet him.

It seems he was back to reality once more and with it, he felt the weighted sensations become prominent.

He felt the excessive weight on his left arm, stomach, and chest and so he turned in one area.

"The hell?" He sighed.

What he saw on his right was that translucent demon, who looked like a mix between a jellyfish and a bat. Her tentacle-like tail somehow got underneath his body and like a python wrapped it's way around his slender figure, ensnaring him in a tight hug along with her slender pink arms.

"Hey. Let go." He softly spat, staring her down with his ruby-like eyes, confused and irritated.

Instead of letting him go, however, she began hugging him tighter and nuzzled her pink cheeks to his hard chest as if she was seeking more warmth.

"Nee hee. Stay. Stay like this...with master... forever. Nee hee hee." She sleepily murmured with her eyes closed.

It wasn't known to him whether demons truly sleep and dream but as she lay there, she gave a smile that appeared different than her usual large grin.

That girl was a demon who would purposely cause misunderstandings just to cause unreasonable chaos but her smile seemed somewhat genuine, almost as if she really does mean it...

'This is becoming a headache.' He moaned and scratched his temple but failed.

Turning to the left, Accelerator gently hit his head back on his pillow and exasperatedly let out a tired sigh.

"Really."

Unsurprisingly there was another person non-consequentially snuggling him. It was a girl, around the age of ten in purple and white sleeper wear.

He sighed once more but Before he could finish, his face was suddenly assaulted in a surprise attack by someone.

It was a female's foot.

Bearing his red eye's downwards, he spotted a girl who looked exactly like the 10-year-old girl but 6 years older. She was a tall and busty girl dressed in a pink vest with brown shorts that emphasized her E cup breast and G butt bust.

"Tch. Wasn't this already dealt with?" He tiredly asked in an annoyed manner and looked at the ceiling.

Recounting the time, it was 2:21 AM when a doorknob wiggled. Opening it up and stepping inside was the familiar white figure, Accelerator.

He had finally finished his business at the board of director's safe house and returned to the Family side complex to rest.

In his left hand, he carried a grocery bag filled with 6 black cans of coffee while his right held his modern design cane to support himself.

'Did they really stay up this late?' Accelerator asked, noticing the lights to the apartment were still on.

As he ventured inwards, he made it to the living room where he spotted the people of the Yomikawa residence mingling. Two of the girls who looked exactly alike, were on the floor playing a racing game on the television and watching them from the couch were the two adult women.

" Ahh, welcome back says Misaka Misaka with excitement, but is too occupied with the game to give you a hug." The smallest of them exclaimed.

She was losing to her younger sister by a large margin and was boiling over with loli rage when Accelerator made his presence known.

"Oi, Tou-san, Misaka would never have stayed up this late if this brat wouldn't stop annoying her. It's your fault she is sleeping late. So you better have something good for her, she isn't doing this out of the kindness in her heart." Worst yelled at him.

" Like I would ever." Accelerator replied in an apathetic voice.

"Pay her no mind. She just missed having you around to bug." The ex-researcher spoke as she looked at him with a smile.

She was an adult with straight black hair cut short, average built and bust size, wearing a lab coat over a plain T-shirt in faded jeans and sneakers.

"Misaka isn't such a simple girl you know, Yoshikawa." Worst scoff, taking off her attention from the game to look at her.

Accelerator ignored the conversation that was ensuing between the two girls and made his way to the kitchen. With the refrigerator stockpiled, he took one of the cans, opened it for a sip, and hobbled back to the living room.

Seeing that the exchange between the two was over, he sat on the single sofa by letting gravity take hold of him and sipped his beverage in silence as he watched the tv from the side.

"You ok there, Accelerator?" Yomikawa asked, glancing at him.

He didn't feel like the look on his face was different from his usual everyday expression but as he ponders, he notices these people always seem to be able to read him like a book.

"Well Aiho, he did travel outside of the city for a day on his own," Yoshikawa responded for him.

Accelerator knew better than to ignore that woman. He's been living with these people for a couple of months now and is already aware of how they operate. That tall woman, Yomikawa _Aiho,_ with long blue hair tied into a ponytail and dressed in a green jersey has a cleaning tendency when upset.

By taking a quick sweep of the condition of the house, he already knew she wasn't in a good mood, and scratching his head, he made up his mind to relinquish everything.

"Sigh...Listen there's something we need to talk about. It's concerning the upcoming future of Academy City."

"Another crisis? It's only been about two days after the evacuation of Academy City on December 12th, barely a week after the City had been hit by an abnormal heatwave that crippled its infrastructure. Well, it's my job as an Anti-skill officer to keep the peace in this city." Yomikawa sighed, holding her head as she leaned back.

"Cheer up Yomikawa, says Misaka Misaka as she comforts her guardian by patting her head. Misaka thinks everything will turn for the better." True to her word the ten-year-old did just that to her guardian.

"Thanks, Last order." Yomokawa smiled.

Last Order was the name given to that 10 years old with an unusual strand of hair sticking up and wearing a blue polka dot dress with white spots under a white lab coat.

"Hey brat, bring the kitchen trash can over here." Accelerator pointed.

Without even asking why Last Order nodded with a smile and hurriedly ran for and came back with the trash can.

"Why exactly do you need a trash can Tou-san?" Worst asked, pausing the game and turning to him.

" I'll get to that damn it." He snarled and scratched his head out of annoyance.

He was still a bit hesitant. This wasn't going to be something easy to explain. He just hoped that if anything they don't think he's messing with them.

"On December the 12th At 1:05 PM, Academy City Board Chairman Aleister Crowley died."

Misaka Worst, who's face basically read 'Am I supposed to give a shit?' was the only one to act differently. Aleister Crowley might have been the ruler of the city of science but that didn't make him lovable to his people.

He was the cause of many suffering and destruction. All that was known about him by the people of the city is that he was The Board Chairman of Academy City residing in the mysterious and indestructible Windowless Building, who holds power greater than that of the Board of Directors.

So, Misaka Worst's reaction isn't as inconsiderate as they seem. Aleister Crowley was the type of person who would let chaos ensue as long as it doesn't hinder or if it furthers his goals. Due to this behavior, free rain was given to the other board of directors to carry out their selfish goals.

It really isn't known whether or not he permitted the Board of Directors in the creation of the Third Season Project or not but this project was planned by Academy City to be a replacement for the existing Misaka Network as it had grown out of their control. It planned for the elimination of the original Sisters and network so it could be replaced with a network composed of a new series of clones. Misaka Worst, the initial clone produced by the project was sent to eliminate Last Order, the control tower of the original network, and Accelerator. She was only created for a single battle with Accelerator. So, this fight demanded her body be sliced and manipulated for optimization.

"So this means the position must have been passed down to one of the twelve Board Directors since the City is running," Yomikawa mumbled and leaned forward.

"No. That mantle has already been taken by me." Accelerator replied and took another sip of his black coffee then continued.

"My absence on the night of the evacuation was due to following Aleister to England to finish some past business. During that journey, I've finally come to know what I want to achieve...I want to make Academy City a better place, one where people could genuinely smile and not be afraid or worried about their present and future. I want to make all those fucked up experiments to be a thing of the past...I want to to...protect the citizens of my City."

"Bwahahahaha! 'Protect the citizens of my city' hahaha, man Tou-san you've really committed to this good guy shmuck, huh?" Worst blurted in between laughter and held her stomach from the pain.

As she continued, she became unable to control herself anymore. So, she turned her upper body around and switched to pounding the floor with her right hand repeatedly.

Though annoyed by the girl's behavior, Accelerator only clicked his tongue.

"There's a couple of stuff you all need to know before I try to enact anything. First, as hard as this is to believe magic does really exist. Magic by itself, roots from the simple fact that 'those without talent' wanted to be able to do the same things as 'those with talent', namely Esper and Gemstones. Aleister Crowley was one of those people, a magician." He explained and the entire apartment went into silence.

"Ok, Ok, let me get this right. Long story short Aleister was a magician in the past but something happens that made him hate it, so he founded science and built Academy City to erase magic from the world. However, all that change when the Windowless building fell, stuff happened and he went to England to stop the end of the world but.. died in the process." Yomikawa sum up after listening to a couple more minutes of his explanation.

"Bfwahaha! You don't really expect Misaka to believe you, right?!" Worst pointed and went back to laughter.

"Well I don't think he's one for jokes and some of the incidents he gave couldn't be explained with science..."

"I believe you, says Misaka Misaka as she knows you best." Last order beamed at him

"You truly are a child, I can't believe your Misaka's sister."

"Hey! I'm older than you! Show your big sister some respect, says Misaka Misaka, yelling!" Last order demanded and got up. Even so, she was barely towering the mischievous.

"Eyea, but I'm more developed~, that makes Misaka the more superior Misaka."

"Yeeer, that's not fair, flaunting your big chest around, Misaka is still developing, says Misaka Misaka, feeling hopeful about her future." Last Order said the last part softly and patted her chest.

"Have you forgotten brat. This Misaka's body was developed with different hormonal drugs than the first sister project. Your breast size will never be as big as Misaka's, heeheehee."

"I believe him too." Yomikawa agreed.

"Huh? You believe him too, Yomikawa asks Misaka Misaka, twisting her head to look at you?"

"Yea. I've had a run-in with some of those things he talked about. Also, a young blond girl told me about bringing back the dead, it's hard to not believe the evidence that I saw with my own eyes."

'Guess I gotta thank that Esther chick.' Accelerator removed the can of coffee from his mouth and stared at Yomikawa.

"Ok, then. Even though I still find this a little hard to believe, Aiho said she saw evidence."

"Really, now. Is Misaka the only sane one here, Sigh?" Worst asked, swaying her head from right to left, disappointed with the other residence response.

"That's what this trash can is for." Accelerator lightly kicked the bin.

"Huh."/ "Oh yeah."/ "Misaka forgot about that, says Misaka Misaka." / "Misaka still fails to see how that will change anything."

"I'm going to provide evidence to prove magic exists. Honestly, if I wasn't given evidence I wouldn't really believe this shit myself."

"Why didn't you start with that, Tou-san?"

"It's the least stressful approach. You'll understand. Come out...Qliphah puzzle 545." He whispered.

A light rustling sound echoed out.

The few pieces of garbage in the bin all began to spin in a clockwise motion similar to a tornado and gathered in a single spot a few inches in the air where they burst loudly apart.

Emerging from the scattered trash was a pink translucent, barefooted demon girl with thin bat wings, a tentacle-like tail. Her ears were pointy and a hole existed in her forehead, on her rainbow-colored head was a large and curved translucent hat, that looked like a baby's bottle nipple.

"Nee hee hee he" She giggled, covering her mouth.

"Pick up the trash." Accelerator demanded and with another witch-like giggle, she did as she was told.

After cleaning up, with effortless motions, she floated her way behind her summoned master and wrapped her beautifully pink arms around his neck. Pulling her face closer to his, she passionately rubbed her cheeks against his.

"You call Master, nehehe. Hello, there my name is Qliphah puzzle 545, nee hee hee~. It's a pleasure to meet you all." She said sweetly.

"Huh." / "oh." "hm"

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Last Order screamed at the top of her lungs.

However, she wasn't screaming because she saw an actual demon. No, That girl might look and acts 10 but she has been exposed to death and weird shit on countless occasions. This was no different.

Her reason for screaming was simple actually.

"Wha-wha- what's going on here, ask Misaka Misaka, pointing in your direction, questioning why that demon girl is nestling you!? Was the bad feeling she had on the trip that girl taking away Misaka's position, says Misaka Misaka as she gets ready to defend herself." She shot up and stepped closer.

"Neheheeheee, master, and I are quite intimate, child~."

"Qliphah puzzle 545." Accelerator spoke in a low and stern voice, looking at her from his peripheral. His intention only to stop any ensuing chaos from her words.

Qliphah puzzle 545 nestling him was something Accelerator counted on. If he knew these people as well as he thinks then they too should catch on. When exposed to something like her in the City of science, everyone would without hesitation classify her as a 3D AI hologram or a hybrid experiment, but thanks to these simple actions, that has been disproved.

"Nehe.. my bad." She averted his gaze.

"What did she mean by that, ask Misaka Misaka?!"

"For me to carry out my goals I'll need support, would you help me?" He glanced at everyone in the room.

"Hey, says Misaka Misaka wanting her question answered!"

"Kukuku, of course, It's an adult's job to help children after all."

"Hopefully we can help rid you of your cat like tendencies: grumpy, gloomy, and lazy."

"Hey! Misaka's question, says Misaka Misaka-."

"Bwhahaha! Misaka has to agree, Hewahaha!" Worst interrupted and flared her four limbs indiscriminately.

"Nehehehe, these people are amazing master!" Accelerator's irritation grew and soon turned into a frown.

He propped himself up with his cane and wobbled to his room but not before growling at Yoshikawa for her remark.

"Oooo! I'm going to sleep with master in his room." Qliphah puzzle 545 gushed, following him.

"Not a chance in hell." Accelerator stopped and shot her a glare. "Try bonding with 'these people', you're going to be bunking with those two brats." He pointed to the two Misaka clones.

"Ehh but... Masterrr. I wanna sleep with you." She pouts.

"Hehe...That's what you get. Misaka wants to, says Misaka Misa-"

"No."

"oh, ho. I guess Misaka is the onl-"

"No one. I am the only one who will be sleeping in my room." Sternness flowed through Accelerator's words as he made it to his bedroom and slammed his door shut.

"Misaka refuses to bunk with her rival, says Misaka Misaka as she acts like a child."

"Seems our family has grown a bit more."

"Hehe, yea."

Both Yomikawa and Yoshikawa chuckled and bowed their heads in agreement, watching as the new member of their family interacted with the clones.

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

In that Oakwood, two-bedroom dormitory where the morning sun hasn't fully penetrated yet, Misaka Mikoto, dressed in a pale yellow pajama with multiple green cartoon frog designs, awoke to the sound of rustling fabric.

"Hmm..." Mikoto Yawned and weakly opens her eye's.

"Oh, hey. Sorry for waking you, onee-sama."

It was her pigtail best friend, Shirai Kuroko, changing into her Tokiwadai blazer uniform with a short checkered skirt below it.

"Kuroko?" Mikoto sheepishly rubbed her eyes and used her right hand to lean upwards, facing the clock first then her friend. "Is it judgment work?"

"Yea," Kuroko replied, buttoning up the blazer.

"Can I come? I don't have anything to do."

"Sorry but no. Apart from my oath of keeping judgment business to only judgment, you have to visit the dorm mistress to speak about your absence."

"Oh yeah, forgot about that. III'mmm not looking forward to it."

With a feeling of dread of what is to come, Mikoto fell back down onto her bed and turned her body to face the wall on the right side of her bed.

Some of the events of her time in the United Kingdom flowed through her mind as she stared at the paper-covered wall.

She remembered that barely recognizable flabby lump of flesh with gashes that had just barely managed to stay in one piece. Forcibly having to amputate it's arm twice, both being controlled and, attacking the innocent, and her fellow Academy City members.

'...'

Using teleportation, Kuroko instantly appeared behind Mikoto on the bed. In the same lying position, she, with masterful ease, slipped her arms under Mikoto's body to fondle her breast.

With an enthusiastic voice and motions that suggest she was denied her favorite thing for months, she screamed in pleasure

"Oooohhh! This sensation...this softness, the squishy texture of your breast are so wonderful. I knew it, you're the only one for me. Your breast has just the right amount of meat; it isn't too big that I can't grope it in its entirety or too small that it's difficult to grab. It's the perfect size with the right plump. Everything pales in comparison to you, onee-sama!"

"Damn it, Kuroko!" Mikoto growled and her temple twitched. "Get off me!"

She shouted at her roommate's attempts at skin-ship and let out bluish-white sparks from her body, shrugging off the pigtail girls embrace.

"Ahhhhhhhh! Onee-samaaa! I missed your electric love whip so much. Ye-yeea, yesh! whip me again!" Kurko spluttered, repeatedly twitching from the floor.

Mikoto faced her roommate, agitated.

"Grrr...Don't you have a judgment job to do! Get lost!" Mikoto reminded her as sparks danced along with her bangs.

Unfazed to the electric attack that her past advances made her resilient too. Kuroko stopped her blissful erotic floor twitching and lazily sat up on her knees, back against Mikoto.

"...I just wanted to spend some time with you, onee-sama.." Her voice became lower "you know since you went missing in Bali...I was really worried..."

Mikoto released a sigh and made her way to her roommate.

"Geez.."

She wasn't wrong there.

Ever since October, Misaka Mikoto hasn't been able to spend much time with her underclassman or friends. The majority of her time was spent following that Level 0 idiot. This resulted in her going to Hawaii to stop terrorists, traveling into Tokyo to check on her mom and end a war, being chased by some powerful old dried up man dressed in a robe, and most recently to Europe where she helped that boy stop the end of the world.

But it wasn't just her, the same could be said about Kuroko Shirai during those times. As a member of judgment, she has been bashed with numerous work such as aiding Anti-Skill with the Ichihanaransai festival, prevent disaster from befalling when the husk old man attacked, evacuating students during the shutdown, and going around looking after other students after the heatwave.

Mikoto sighed and stopped close behind her.

She pet her roommates head reassuringly and with a soft voice, she asked.

"Judgment really is a tough and demanding job, huh?"

"..."

"...When you get back and I'm finished talking to the dorm manager, how about you, me, Saten-san and Uiharu -san hang out together." Mikoto smiled.

"I would rather it be us two so I can have some alone time with my precious onee-sama." Kuroko childishly pouted. "...But...I can compromise."

"Ok onee-sama, I'll tell Uiharu when I see her."

Mikoto smile became gentler as she removed her hand.

Before she teleported out of the dormitory, Kuroko went to the desk chair to put on a grey thick duffle coat over her blazer uniform and a green and white stripes armband on her upper right arm.

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

The sounds of creaking were the first echo in that large group apartment. It was the whaling of door hinges expanding from someone's bedroom.

They were never one with a set time for waking up but today was different.

Dressed in a cream classical sleepwear with knotted string in the center, the teenager closed the door, and hanging over their right arm was another set of clothing.

Leaving a yawn behind, they lazily walked to the bathroom where they closed the door, locked it, and checked it for confirmation.

Forty-five minutes later, the door signaled the start of a new. With an exasperated sigh, they made their way to the kitchen to start making classical eggs and bacon with two toast, and a mug of coffee for the other members.

After finishing, they sat down, read a magazine, and ate their share of breakfast. After which they wrapped the others in plastic wrap, left them on the countertop, washed their plate, and ventured outside.

No visible breath could be found in the frigid cold but there they stood, in front of their apartment complex in District 7, ready to complete a top secret task.

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

*Vibrate*

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

*Vibrate*

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

"Hhmm.."

*Vibrate*

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

*Vibrate*

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

"...Hhmm..ughhh!"

The light of the morning sun shined through the bathroom window. With it hitting the spiky hair teenager and the continuous sound of ringing, Kamijou woke up.

He was in the bathroom.

He wasn't there to do his daily morning routine nor was he there because of a punishment game. No, he was actually sleeping in there.

Why do you ask?

Well, it became his normal resting place after having a hard day. Ever since he took in the nun name Index Librorum Prohibitorum, Kamijou been spending his nights there sleeping.

Now, don't think she kicked him out of his bed or anything. Remember, he lives in a school apartment, assigned to just him. In hopes of keeping his teenage mind in check and a little out of kindness, he offered his bed to her and took the bathtub instead.

Half asleep and tired of the ringing, Kamijou reached for his phone to turn it off. After which, he stretched his limbs while yawning and made his way to the mirror.

With his phone resting on the sink, he turned on the pipe and the weak current of water trailed through the pipe causing wailing sounds as it swirled it's way down the sinkhole.

Kamijou repeatedly splashed water on his face until he felt awake. As he's there, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and once more stared into the mirror.

His ruffled black spiky hair was damp from the splashing water and bags lined the underbelly of his eye.

"Hm...How long has it been since I last slept?" Kamijou scratched his head and felt the bite marks left by the demon of Tartarus. "Ehe hehe...Is this one new? When did she? Just my luck."

Kamijou reached for his phone on the right and checked the time.

It was 8:33.

'Ok'

He exited the bathroom and made his way to his past resting place.

Sprawled out on his bed were the other two residences, sleeping away. The first thing that caught his eye was the sight of the small magic god, Othinus, being laid on by the small calico cat, Sphynx.

"...You're just going to stand there, human?" Othinus said after hearing him enter.

Kamijou made his way to the bed where he lifted Sphynx. With the calico cat now off her, Othinus climbed her way up Kamijou's right shoulder and sat on her rightful throne.

"*Giggle* See, I told you he only wants to play."

Snickering the tiny kicks away, he started his maid duty.

"Ok come on...wake up Index." Kamijou gently shook Index's shoulder.

In the past, it would have taken about three tries to wake this lazy nun girl up without appealing to her olfactory senses, but he's realized as time went by with him leaving her alone for days on end she somehow became sensitive to his attempts.

"..haa..morning Touma" Index greeted him, leaning her body up.

When she did, the sun rays coming from the balcony showered her rich skin that couldn't be covered in the pink bunny pajamas. The bunny ear hood fell from her head as she arched her back to stretch and cause her silver-blue hair to be undone.

"...is breakfast ready?" Index yawned and rubs her eyes.

"No, not yet. I'll start it right now. Go and wash up first, ok." Touma smiled and points to the bathroom.

"Alright." She yawned again and got going.

"Take Othinus would you," Touma asked as he hands her the dolly understander.

"Mmmm.."

Index with the 15cm goddess in hand made their way to the bathroom and with Sphynx in toe, freshen up for the beginning of her morning.

"Alright then, time to heat up last night's meal for breakfast," Touma said, looking through the fridge.

After freshening up, Index, Sphynx, and Othinus sat around the living room table and scanned through channels on the television.

Seeing the news report on the state of affairs in Academy City, Index left the channel.

"Things seem to be kinda looking up for this city." She commented.

"Well Prohibited books, seeing that the infrastructure of the city was put down by that pervert Aleister coupled with the pain of the heatwave. These little hiccups are as good as it gets."

Before the evacuation, Coronzon tried to gain access to Academy city-data Bank which contains Academy City's research data, including school grades, all other esper development data, chemicals and equipment used for esper development, data on next-generation weapons, and all other research information.

To prevent that, Aleister sends out a virus that shut down every last computer. This virus however wasn't something regular, you can't really give a virus an overall ranking but this one was the most brutally wide-scale there is since it brought down the entire network. while Misaka Mikoto's cyberattacks would only break one targeted barrier that affected both Academy City and all the cooperative organizations scattered around the world.

While normally that would be a bad thing for this city when the Magic side is involved, Coronzon and the Crowley's Hazards made a worldwide attack during their battle in England, so every possible enemy would all be busy to retaliate.

'His attempt to prevent Coronzon from stealing his city made everything go offline. Since he's dead the only one cable of bringing it back online fully would probably be his successor which by the looks of it he already chose but somehow they fail to resume everything...either that or...'

Othinus' thoughts were cut short as Touma placed the leftover roast pork on the table along with everyone's plates and eating utensils. Wasting no time he sliced it up and shared it among everyone.

" I'm just glad the everyday machinery has fully recovered and is online. It's only a matter of time before the problems that have Anti-skill officers spread thin will be done with." Touma interject.

" And if you see a girl in trouble before then, you'll chime in, right boy."

"Don't say it like that!"

"What, It's true."

With an apathetic look, Othinus began to dig into her breakfast.

"Hmmm..."

'To say it's quite comical to see a doll size god who ended the world eating a bite-size meal with her hands is an understatement.'

"Ahh, Touma, why exactly are we eating breakfast so early? You don't have anything to do really."

" Well not really, Index. we gotta go buy some groceries since those in the fridge aren't good. I also wanna go to School District 15 to buy that dollhouse for Othinus in Dianoid. They may have one in stock since the St Germain fiasco and I would also like to go to Fukiyoise house to pick up any notes for all those classes I miss, I'm on the verge of being held back."

"How about you stop fighting the inevitable."

"Wh-why would you say that Othinus?!"

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

At the 177th branch office of Judgement based in Sakugawa Middle School, Kuroko opened the door and entered inside.

The office was filled with many boxes, as well as other miscellaneous objects that made it seem crowded. The room consisted of a small kitchen area, a waiting area for guests, and a conference room for members to conduct meetings.

At one corner near a computer was a short black hair girl with a headband made out of artificial flowers. Her name was Uiharu Kazari, a Level 1 esper. She was dressed in casual clothing wearing a cream shirt over a white silk long sleeve blouse and skirt and on her right arm was the green judgment armband.

Hearing the door open, Uiharu took her attention off of the computer and greeted the visitor.

"Hmm, Good Morning." She greeted but stopped in shock when she saw the person. "Shirai-san?"

"Morning, Uiharu."

"It's unlike you to use the door. Is everything ok between you and Misaka-san?"

"I only used the door Uiharu," Kuroko growled and narrowed her eyes slightly. "It's not the end of the world... But since you asked."

A chill suddenly ran down Uiharu's spine as Kuroko's eyes began sparkling abnormally.

"Onee-sama patted Kuroko's head.!EEEEeeee! Hehehee." Kuroko gushed, spinning around.

Uiharu couldn't help but nervously smile as she saw this, despite knowing Shirai's special tendencies, she still can't help but feel awkward.

"Oh, That's good to hear, Shirai-san."

"Yeah, I know! Eeee! I can't wait till i'm finished. But Before I forget, do you and Saten-san want to hang out after work?"

"Yes, I'm sure Saten-san would love too as well."

Kuroko, now not occupied, took notice of her surroundings. The 177 branch office was the smallest among them all but...

"Hmm? Has all the field workers left to help the city?

"Yup."

Rather than Uiharu being the one to respond, it was the chief of the 177th Branch, Mii-Konori.

She was short black hair, glasses-wearing 16-year old dressed in a red leather jacket over a black cotton shirt with knee long blue skirt.

"Konari-senpai." Both juniors turned around and said in unison.

"With the surveillance system down, the breakout and still the recovery from the heatwave as well as the windowless building missing new shipments and the population and infrastructure restoration. Both Anti-Skill and judgment along with Multi-Active Rescue are working around the entire city to maintain order and resolve all issues. People have seen an opening and are taking advantage of it. It's gotten to the point that all branches of judgment and Antiskill are spread thin." She explained then parted the paperwork in her hands to give to Kuroko.

"Right now I'm stuck with paperwork and Uiharu is busy supporting the field members. Here's a list of complaints and other things you have to do."

"*Whistle* This is really thick."

Before Uiharu could turn back around to tamper on her computer, a sound came from the office door.

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

The sun had already been set, and shining through the cream and white curtains that danced to the beat of the wind, illuminating the living room. It was fairly large, about the entire length of a normal apartment, with glossy oil painted wooden floor.

The sound of oil crackling could be heard throughout the household. It was the sound of eggs and bacon sizzling in a pan.

In the Kitchen, Yoshikawa Kikuyu wore a long purple sleeve shirt with blue sweatpants. She was cooking breakfast for her and the other residence.

In the distance, a noise, separate to the oil popping, came from the hallway leading to everyone's bedrooms. Emerging from the shadow cast, was Accelerator, dressed in an all-grey shirt and sweatpants.

With an uninterested glance her way, Accelerator yawned.

"You're up early." Yomikawa took her eyes off the pan and greeted him.

Accelerator sluggishly made his way to the refrigerator, took a can of coffee, and sat on a stool behind the counter-top. "I could say the same about you."

He then opened the seal of the canned and drank half of it down in one gulp.

"Did Yomikawa already leave? "

"Mmmm. She got called pretty early for work... So are you going to visit her? I mean you are the new Chairman after all. I can hold the others while you do that. Besides with the way things are, the surveillance system being down and the break-out, they could use a little hand."

"Breakout?"

"Hmm? You don't know? Shouldn't you have already been alerted to that?"

Yes. Accelerator should have been alerted to that since he held the highest position. But there were no allies there. He didn't trust any of those adults holding a board title nor did he trust the workers that came with his position. He made his intentions loud and clear when he announced his crowning, and obviously, it wasn't going to be met in kind.

This situation was evidence enough.

Aleister, that man didn't trust any of those people. He gave them rain over the city but they knew well not to challenge him or else they would be met with hell. What truly made Aleister terrifying was not his offense or defense...but his reconnaissance. There wasn't a signal thing they could do in this city without him knowing.

And as in real war...information was the deadliest weapon.

The previous Chairman, Aleister Crowley had managed to get a myriad of information using a unique network of nanomachines scattered throughout Academy City called underline. It was a setup surveillance network that monitored everything in the city, different from the surveillance satellites.

Although the smartphone he received did give him access to all of Aleister's technology and knowledge of every recorded event Aleister knows about, Under_line is however dysfunctional.

In its use, under_line was destroyed on three separate occasions. One of which was due to Acqua of the Back's attack which under_line was severely damaged and it created a burden on the entire network. This forced the Underline network to collapse within an hour as interference within one area would quickly spread throughout the entire network. The second was when Kihara Yuiitsu made use of the UL Exploder to create explosions by gathering and detonating the nanodevices during her fight with Kamijou Touma and Salome. And finally during the heatwave that took down the city's infrastructure. Even though Aleister was able to create the nanomachines with the most advanced nanotechnology, the motherboard length was only about seventy nanometers, it was only natural they would be destroyed even after being repaired from the other two incidents.

It would have taken a few hours to repair the machines for use, but after the heatwave, Aleister was attacked by Kamijou Touma and a few others in the windowless building. So, he never had enough time to reboot and fix all the nano-machines throughout the city.

"It happened about a couple of hours after you went to sleep. The kids were enjoying playing games when Aiho was called in. She said the arrested espers in Reformatory were broken out from the transport plane."

Academy City is a large mass of land enclosed in walls in west Tokyo. Its rules and regulations differed from the outside world as 80% of its residents were children. So where do those children go when they commit crimes?

Reformatory.

That was the name of Academy city's only esper counter-measure juvenile hall, located in School District 10.

"Tch! Why didn't you wake me up." Accelerator snarled at her.

"You were tired of your trip and we wanted you to rest awhile before you did anything. I'm sure you already know Aiho's issues with this chairman thing."

He knew that woman very well. Above all else, Yomikawa felt disappointed and ashamed. Those were the clear emotions that were prominent on her face when he spoke with everyone last night. It wasn't due to a feeling of inferiority but more so out of pride...adult pride and morals.

Yomikawa Aiho is the type of adult who sees the good in everyone and wants them to live a peaceful and happy life. The role of Chairman would certainly help save lives but it subsequently means that poor boy would once more face the darkness...and she dreads that..she doesn't want to see him suffer that again.

It was because of this nature, why she volunteered for joining Anti skill. Members of which are Academy City's police and security forces, assigned to dangerous situations.

Accelerator and Yomikawa knew how each other felt, that was why they both were fighting to reassure the other.

Accelerator released a low sigh and made a call.

He wanted to show her that she need not worry and Yomikawa wanted him to enjoy the wonders of the light.

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

"Saten-san?" Asked Uiharu.

Peaking into the room were two young middle school girls.

The girl Uiharu called out too was Ruiko Saten. A blue-eyed girl with long black hair dressed in a gray pullover sweater and blue skinny jeans. As a decoration, a small white flower was clipped to the side of her hair.

"Hey, Uiharu, Shirai-san. Could you two help my friend out?" Saten fully reveals herself.

The friend she meant, in particular, was a timid purple hair girl with two small pigtails. She was dressed in a red one-piece knitted dress over a black tie-neck blouse.

"U-um, good day. My name is Hitomi Ichino." She introduced herself meekly.

Saten placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped forward. "She wants you guys to investigate something for her."

Kuroko guided them both to the waiting area and encouraged the two to take a seat.

The waiting room was structured like a karaoke booth, with two couches sandwiching a glass table. so, they sat facing each other.

"M-my friend." Hitomi unnaturally fidgeted. She was messing with her fingers as she stared at the ground. "We ..we're talking about meeting up with each other after the evacuation but.. when I was at the designated place they never came. I waited an extra hour then decided to call their cell... but they never answered."

Squinting her eyes, Kuroko observed Hitomi intently, and then her right brow twitched as a realization dawned on her.

"When was the last time you spoke to them?" She asked.

"After last night. We were talking about the meetup and... other stuff." Hitomi's voice seemed to shrink at the last part but no one gave light to it.

Kuroko leaned her upper body forward and locked her fingers, as her elbows retested on her knees. "Have you spoken to any of their friends about this?"

"I.. I didn't...but... I think something is wrong." Hitomi squeaked out and averted Kuroko's gaze.

When Uiharu arrived, she rested the two cups of coco tea on the table for the two guests and gave a confused look to Hitomi, while Saten nervously smiled and diverted her eye's.

The room then went silent.

"...sigh..." Kurko sat up straight and watched the ceiling. "I get it. Give my partner his name."

"Eeeep!"Both Hitomi and Uiharu's face turned a peach-like red after hearing that.

Saten on the other hand let out an awkward laugh, apologized, and scratched the back of her head.

"There isn't any reason for me to play along anymore, we are going to know anyways."

With her face painted red, Uiharu adorably lashed out on the perverted judgment member.

"Shirai-san. These things aren't as easy as you make them look."

"It's the truth," Kuroko said, facing her.

"Mm..mm..mm..s-sor-ry." Hitomi apologized.

"There's nothing to feel sorry for. You're worried and that's natural." Kuroko reassures her.

"T-thank you."

There are several reasons at the top of her head, she could come up with to refuse this girl's request. The bulk of paper Konori-sampai gave her was the first but just because of the fact she was also a fellow maiden in love, Kuroko gave her top priority.

Well, it was that but a mixture of sympathy and curiosity.

After being given the name of Hitomi's 'friend', Uiharu searched through Academy City bank to gather information.

"I found where their dorm is."

Told that, Kuroko got up off the couch and went to her desk for something. She placed a wireless earpiece in her ear and teleported to District 7.

A few teleportations later, she reached the apartment complex he was housed at.

"Ok, This is it." Kuroko said, knocking on the door and yelling judgment.

She patiently waited for about 10 seconds.

"..No answer huh."

Kuroko did this five times just to make sure then teleported inside.

The apartment was fairly large but it was hard to judge how large since the entire area was dark. It was still early December and snow was already accumulated outside, but the interior of the apartment was hot as a summer day.

"Could at least open a window or turn off a heater...Judgment!"

Still, no one replied. She walked further in.

"Uhirau, tell the girl to Call his phone please."

[Alright.]

"..."

*Ring Ring*

"..."

*Ring Ring*

The sound came from the bedroom.

Following it, Kuroko knocked at the door twice before twisting the handle and opening it..but she regretted that action.

The room was dark, hot, and smelled like a butcher shop.

The ground felt like stepping in a thin partially dried layer of paint and as Kuroko reached her hand out to the wall and managed to flip on the light switch...

Immediately, fear took a hold of her.

She couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't want to.

Her eyes grew wide, her throat shuddered and her complexion paled. The sight she saw was quite unique. Of all the things she was exposed to in her job, this was the most terrifying.

The room was a sea of blood.

Lying sprawled on his back, not three feet beyond the door, in a pool of blood that was almost dried, was that middle schoolboy. His lips were a pale blue and his eye's blank and soulless.

His exposed body gave a sappy and slimy look from the heat. The blood-soaked his entire body, even the front was submerged in a way that would make sponges jealous.

Blood lined his entire carcass: His eye, head, mouth, ears, arms, chest, and legs.

The wounds around him seemed to be internal, as his skin had snake-like protrusions that exploded and appeared caved in due to the remnants of flaccid skin that was spread unevenly outwards the cratered border.

"Uiharu," Kuroko called out with a weak voice. "I-I need you to call Anti-Skill."

[Doing it now.]

She walked out of the bedroom and after she closed the door, her back slid down it.

She then tucked her body in and rested her forehead on her arms.

"What the hell is happening in this city?" She whispered to no one.

Outside with her back leaning on the wall was the judgment officer, Shirai Kuroko. Some time had passed before an Anti-Skill van arrived at the complex.

A group of five Anti-skill officers was currently inside the room, securing the crime scene.

One of the officers, a woman dressed in a SWAT armor uniform approaches her.

"Hello there. My name is Yoshikawa Aiho. While the other officers investigate the crime scene, I would like to take your statement and ask some questions."

Kuroko shook her head in compliance and leaned up.

"Understood."

"Firstly, mind telling me why a judgement officer from the 3rd branch is doing all the out here?"

"Well, I work part-time at Branch 177 in Sakugawa Middle School, ma'am."

"Huhh...Your name please?"

"Shir-"

The sound of a phone vibrating against amour interrupted her.

Yomikawa Aiho was a woman of principle. Normally, she would ignore any disturbance during her work hours, unless it came from the radio, but she had expected this call. She was so certain they'd call that she would have bet her green jersey on it.

"I'm sorry, please hold for a second."

"Alright."

Yomikawa pulled the phone from her pocket and walked deeper to the left until she reached the railing, where she could get a good view.

When she checked the caller ID she smiled and answered.

"You're up early."

"Okay okay, I'll stop with the meaningless banter."

"Hmm...I can't really let you come here exactly... Ok, hold on."

Yomkawa took her sight away from the balcony view and stared at the judgment girl.

"Where is your part-time branch located!?"

"Second floor, ma'am."

"Ok, thank you!"

"Meet me in Sakugawa Middle School, the second floor."

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

The 15th School District, the largest downtown area of Academy city and many leisure facilities. District 7's resident Poorman, Touma Kamijou was currently inside a shopping mall there, which was relatively unique.

It was a place known for the rich and famous, the Dianoid mall, a giant hexagonal prism complex that is seventy stories high.

He was at the lower levels, known for being filled with high-class brand name shopping centers. That large area had the center of the floors opened up to create an atrium view. Leaving the many customers able to see on each floor adjacent.

The floor's, walls, and pillars on the lower levels were made up of carbon materials, giving the surfaces a wood-like appearance. Its architectural structure is of the Japanese-style, using Japanese elements such as sliding doors and hanging paper lanterns.

Exiting one of the many shops, Touma was dressed in a white hoodie under his school blazer. Accompanying him was the silver hair nun, Index, carrying a calico cat on her head and a bag of miniaturized materials in her hand.

In his, was a big shopping bag holding a box-like object. It was the house set that didn't strain the bag due to the scientific alterations done to it.

"Where next, Touma?" Index asked in a sing-song manner.

"Hmm...Well, we only have to go pick up my missing work then to the convenience store to shop for food and detergent stuff."

"..Hey, you want anything in particular here? Obviously not too expensive." Touma glanced at her and she did the same.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm using the money I had before to buy the house set and I still have some leftover from that email so..yea." He shrugs his shoulders.

"No, I don't really want anything from here. I'm not one for materialistic possessions. That's all they have here, right?"

He then came to a halt and Index followed suit.

"Well no actually. There's a lot more to this place, you got to remember this is a rich person's heaven and a poor man's hell. This place is used for housing, recreation, and most notably, shopping. But I do see what you mean."

"Isn't that sleeper wear you use every night a hand me down, Prohibited books?" Peeking from behind the veiled of Kamijou's hoodie, the 15cm Norse god, Othinus added. Her legs slender legs were crossed and her hands folded as she sat there leaning against his neck.

"Uh-huh." Index shook her head then switched her attention from Othinus to Touma. "But I only use it when I'm sleeping."

"Oh brother. Seems you're a dense one. Human here is saying he would like to buy you a gift." Othinus offhandedly waved her hands to Touma.

In that brief moment, Index became silent and her body froze. It was a second later that she reacted, as if a current of electricity flowed through it, her body suddenly jumped and she took a giant step backward with a perplexed expression.

"RARGHH!"

Hearing that, Index snapped out of her confusion and swung her head behind to peer at her feet. Underneath her right foot was Spynx's tail. The poor little Calico cat wailed in pain and clawed at her brown boots, leaving thin powder like streaks inscribed.

"Oh no!" She hastily removed her foot. "I'm sorry, Sphynx."

Bending over, she reached out her hands to console the pain-ridden cat, however, instead of accepting the gesture Sphynx scraped the back of her hand in rejection and ran off.

"No, sphynx wait! I'm really sorry." Index stretched her hands out, letting slip the bag of mini furniture she went to pursue.

"Hey Index wait!" Touma shouted to Index as he picked up the bag and ran in the direction she sprinted off too.

It was the 15th of December, about a week and a few days away from Christmas. so, naturally, both adults and students alike were in that huge building walking and searching for early gifts and other necessities, therefore making it somewhat difficult to spot Index's exact location from the large crowd.

All that was known to Touma was that she headed straight.

Further along that path was a Christmas decorated escalator. When he reached it, he was unable to move forward since it was unusable at the moment due to the large influx of people being absorbed by December.

It had already taken him longer than he wanted too to get there, and he was eager to finish his school work so he could enjoy his winter break.

Rather than blindly running around and consuming time, he prioritizes searching.

"How could someone dressed in a nun outfit blend in so well with this modern crowd?"

It took but a minute of scouring to see a white figure running down another escalator and if he wanted to avoid her descending at the lower floors he needed to hurry.

They were only on the twentieth floor of the lower level, if she goes any lower he might lose sight of her and stay longer than needed on this. But both the escalator and elevator were overrun. All he could do was wait until space was made at either to give chase.

"Dammit. I'll have to deal with both remedial classes and still homework. I'm only in my teenage years, can't a guy bask in the glorious winter shower." Touma roughed his hair, glum.

As the elevator came, he forcibly entered. On the immediate floor beneath, he ran around in search of her; when she couldn't be spotted he moved along the other lower floors, checking for any signs of Index and at some point reached the lowest level.

"Come on Index, where could you have gone?"

The hallway on the lowest floor was completely empty. As he ran through there he stumbled upon a passageway to his left that leads to a special door.

"Would she?" Touma asked, walking to it.

It was down a short staircase that leads to the door with a long horizontal handle.

'I don't know if anyone is in there or not but it's best if I check it out. I'll worry about the consequences later.' Touma thought as he turned the knob and sneaked in.

Beyond the door was a large blandish room filled with different size recliners, stacked boxes, mental crates, and many other mall related materials wrapped in plastic.

Staying as close as possible to the wall, he took a deep breath then ducked down to walk deeper inwards but halted only after several steps because of a 'BOFF!, BUMP! and WHAM!' sound.

When that second of surprise was up, Touma quickly hid behind a wall of crates and the same sound was heard once more catching his attention on the scene ahead of him

"Pant... Pant... I-pant...I just can't."

It was a solid thirty feet away, in an open space that had a few packs of boxes and crates forming something of a badly put together ring. With its lack of symmetry and gaps, a kneeling middle-age man with black eyes could be seen with three others.

His hair was a washed-out pale green color and surprisingly linear as if he used a flat iron to straighten them. The few strands in his face were about an inch long and had a bundle in the middle with a wide space on both sides reaching to his bangs making him look like he had a massive forehead.

"I'm sorely disappointed with you. I thought you still carried the burning torch."

Though he was beaten upon, the man who dished it out avoided his face and aimed at other parts of his body. He was a tall muscular fellow whose outlines were clearly displayed because of the plain black tank top he wore. Giving him the generic army look, his hair was dyed blond and cut in a tabletop hairstyle, the added perk that completed the transformation was his natural emerald colored eyes.

His name was Wataru Tomose and standing at both sides of him were the other two men which were unrecognizable because of the motorcycle gear they had on. In their hands were 9mm suppressors which had been designed similar to a Gemtech lunar 9 but with Academy City customization.

"..Pant listen..we don't need to do that anymore. We managed to escape a death sentence by the cleaners and the first rank only by a strand. Why go back? I just want to live out the rest of my life even if I'm called ignorant. The things we did I...I just can't." The man bends his head lower in disgust.

"So you're saying you would rather turn a blind eye. What we had done was carry out true justice. You don't have to be fearful of what those nonbelievers will do. I will admit we made a mistake in trusting in people like Hishigata and Nakimoto but things are different." Wataru said, towering over the kneeling man.

"What?" The man shot his head up to look at him but only received a laugh.

"You're not planning on rushing them, right? Because that would be just stupid, charging three train men with guns." Othinus asked Touma.

"I know, I won't do that. Not without doing some set up at least." Touma answered, his attention still on the scene.

"Sigh. Why do I bother?"

"Ok, Othinus. I need you to head over there and draw their attention." Touma looked at her then with his line of sight following, he pointed to the right. "As far as you judge is appropriate, long as it gives me ample time, I'm fine with it."

"That's too basic of a plan...but since it's you I know the odds of success are higher than usual."

Saying that Othinus left his shoulders for the direction.

When her figure got lost in the crates and boxes, Touma turned his attention back to the recruitment scene where Wataru was back to being serious.

As Wataru was about to move, a dull impact from a corner of the room interrupted him.

With a calm and composed expression, Wataru signaled the two men using army signals and before Touma even knew it he was holding his breath.

'SHIT!'

He has been on many excursions, saving people and getting hurt, long enough to know. Though they were calmer, these sounds were that of gunfire. The repeated silenced gunshots ripped through the air, each projectile blasting into something, be it boxes, crates, mirrors, chairs, or the wall.

After the muzzle flashes stopped and the lingering gunpowder subsided, the two full-body suit men advanced in the fired location.

How could he be so stupid? This was most obvious. Thoughts like those pierced his mind as he readied to rush them in a mix fit of fear, rage, and regret but when a hand from behind covered his mouth, he was held in place.

"?!" In that brief moment, he positioned his hand to elbow them, when they lighten their grip and spoke up. "It's me, Touma."

"Index?" Touma looked back. "How are you here?"

"The air vent." She bluntly answered.

"What was it?" Wataru asked the two men who investigated the area.

"Just a cat, sir." One soldier replied. "The little guy must be bulletproof."

"No, you just suck." The other said.

"Shut up, you fired at the same time."

"I aimed more to the left."

"Both of you shut up-"

"Thank goodness, sphynx wasn't hurt." Index released a sigh of relief, drowning out those people's conversation after hearing her buddy was safe.

"We have to check on Othinus. Sh-"

"Cool your jets I'm right here," Othinus muttered at his feet. "I'm not planning on leaving you ever, human. You are my understander after all."

"Stop that." She demanded. Her understander kept on poking her body from different angles. "Are you sure you're really ok?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes, I am. Isn't there something more crucial you have to deal with?"

After realizing his one-shot was denied, he had to resort back to observing the scene until a better plan came to mind or an opportunity presented itself.

The scene there was different than it was before. Instead of returning back, the two other men stayed at the same spot, seated while facing each other, and played with their phones.

'Wait what? Are they really ignoring them?' Touma shifted his sight back onto Wataru.

Turning his back to the kneeling man, Wataru approached a chest height stack of boxes. On it were his modified 9mm suppressor and a black talon blade. Taking them up, he faced the man and threw the weapons towards him.

"W-what are doing." The man blinked in confusion, shifting his sights between the weapons and Wataru.

The weapons were within spitting distance to him compared to the distance between them and Wataru.

"You know exactly what I'm doing," Wataru smirked, closing his eyes and turning back around.

"Come on." Wataru motioned with his head. "I promise those two won't attack, they were like you after all. Kill me and they lose all motivation to carry out justice."

From a Logical standpoint, Touma felt this was not an opportune time to move. Despite what that man said whether false or true the condition only applied to that other man. If he moved during this time his chances of dying were quite high.

The area they were in was enclosed and three enemies in total are well-trained operatives. Considering if he escapes the gunshots from one man who would aim at him while the other aims at the kneeling man, he won't be able to leave the room.

The beaten man swallowed a ball of spit and took a moment of silence. All he could do was grasp at straws at the intentions behind what Wataru was achieving.

Given the choices, he contemplates his situation. In front of him are two weapons, one close range the other long-range.

With the talon knife, he is more open with counter-attacks since it would come down to close comeback and in a fair fight against Wataru, he knew he wouldn't win, but with Wataru's handicaps, his odds were fairly good.

Wataru was a man of conviction and pride, once he felt strongly about something he would stick to it. So, he was sure Wataru wouldn't break his deal, but if he did then the suppressor would be the best choice in more ways than one. As long as he could get a good shot in, he could injure Wataru and use him as a hostage then kill the other two.

How the reason for turning around would change his decision was beyond him but he felt like he would be falling into Wataru's hand if he didn't consider all possibilities.

"If you're thinking if the gun has any bullets the answer is it does. The gun isn't sabotaged either and the blade is sharp."

"..."

Though his doubts were still present. his thoughts shifted to predictability. Which of the two would Wataru think he'd choose and how would he counter.

Obviously, his past would play an important role in Wataru's prediction so he weighed the options carefully and when he came to a decision, he sprinted forward with his weapon in hand.

In truth, there were more options available to him. One was to either fall in line with Wataru's choices or run away, and the other was fighting him barehanded which was out of the question.

Within a matter of seconds, he covered the distance and thrust his hand forward to deliver a heavy strike between Wataru's shoulder blades.

Base on his way of thinking, running away, or using the gun would be his immediate choice. By using those he was able to decide the knife was the most unpredictable method he could choose.

"Using the knife to aim at the spot between my shoulder blades, not bad."

Wataru did not look back even after saying that. Instead, he turned sideways, anti-clockwise, letting his attacker stumble into the stack boxes and fall to the ground.

"...Ah?" The man pushed himself up, staring at Wataru in the push-up position.

"Hehehe."

Overcoming his surprise, he rushed Wataru and swung the blade horizontally at his stomach, which with a casual step back, Wataru evaded.

"If you really want to kill me then take this seriously," Wataru smirked at him.

Exasperated, he closed the distance with a powerful step forward and thrust the blade at Wataru's solar plexus.

As he predicted, Wataru dodged by sidestepping again which prompted the man to straighten his left hand and strike at Wataru's throat with great force.

Perhaps he predicted it or maybe it was because of a six sense but Wataru defended against it. Though his eyes were closed the entire time, he saw through the feint. He grabbed both of his attacker's hands and bashed him in the face with a head butt.

when the attacker was pushed back from the powerful impact, Wataru spun around and kicked him in the face, sending him to collapse all the way back at the place he was kneeling.

"Was this a sufficient display." Wataru laughed and spread his arms as if welcoming a friend.

"No way, it can't be" Index watched with open eyes. "Prudence..."

"Prudence?" Kamijou repeated in confusion.

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

"How long are we going to wait?" Kuroko asked, pacing around.

While she was moving about impatiently, Yomikawa was leaning against the wall in the left corner while Uiharu and Konari were at their respective desk.

They were at the judgment office in Sakugawa Middle School and were waiting to convene with the person the Anti-Skill officer was on the phone with.

"Just a little while, they should be here soon."

"I still don't get it" Kuroko stopped and folded her arms. "Why are we waiting for this person?"

"Hey, she's in a taxi heading home," Saten said entering the office and taking a seat at the waiting area.

"Thank you..umm?" Yomikawa looked at her and asked.

"Saten. Ruiko Saten."

"Ahh, thank you very much, Miss Saten."Yomikawa smiled.

Following three knocking sounds, the door to the office opened, and in came a white figure.

"Ohh there he is." Yomikawa turned to Accelerator and grind.

He was an albino dressed in a long sleeve white shirt and light grey pants with white smudges. The top half was in all gray and descended in spacious v shape patterns.

Staring at Yomikawa with his piercing ruby eyes, he leaned his body weight on the modern design cane in his right hand.

Everyone went silent on the guest's arrival, their faces were more baffled than reassured. Instead of the person being an adult who held authority they saw it was a crippled boy who looks like he suffers from a mild case of anorexia.

"Wait," Kuroko exclaimed. "that's a civilian. Why were we waiting for a civilian?" She pointed at him but looked at Yomikawa.

Yomikawa stared at the ceiling with her hands folded and responded.

"Hmm...he's something like my Kouhai." Then she continued, looking at Kuroko. "Well that's not it, I'm like a teacher figure to him."

"That still doesn't explain why a civilian should be on a case, besides he's just a kid."

"That's pretty hilarious coming from you, short stack." Accelerator stared at Kuroko with an apathetic expression.

"What did you just call me." Kuroko snapped, glaring at him but got ignored."Why you unsightly malodorous homohablis." She spat as she stepped closer.

"Ohh, really?" He asked, disinterested.

"Come on now, Shirai-san. Relax a little." Uiharu parted them with both words and hand gestures.

"You guy's let me help out on cases from time to time," Saten added.

"Don't say that out loud, Saten-san."

" R-right. Hahaha, my bad." Saten smiled bitterly and apologized in a weak voice.

"You're a hypocrite too. Well, that's an all-time low, miss piggy." Accelerator said monotone. The face he displayed to Kuroko was as if realizing a not so impressive observation.

"Stop giving me names you repugnant Yokel. " Kuroko demanded angrily but Accelerator looked away once again.

"Well, I think you should relax." Yomikawa walked towards Accelerator. "This kid is working towards peace and he's shadowing me to learn the ropes. He isn't of age to join Anti-skill but Judgment is another story." She ruffled his moppy hair but he showed no signs of caring.

"Anyway, let's begin." He said.

"..Fine," Kuroko glowered out. "Uiharu."

"Well about half an hour ago we received a request by a student who goes by the name Hitomi Ichino. She requested we investigate her friend Rui Kanji who has been silent since this morning. When Shirai-san arrived at his dorm his body was found lying in a pool of his own blood. There were no signs of forced entry or a struggle. The cause of death from observation was internal, maybe he took some experimental drug that destroyed his organs? Well that's just a guess until the report gets back to Anti-skill"

The girls turned their sights on the anti-skill officer. In situations like these, information is withheld and only revolves around the adults. Since this case had already left their jurisdiction there isn't any obligation to share the forensic report.

The two junior judgment girls were aware they wouldn't receive any update but they still hoped the officer would share some info.

What's more, it felt weird to them. Why was that boy here?

"Mmm." Accelerator signaled Yomikawa and she approached him.

"Care to share?" Kuroko asked the two.

"Nope. Can't a highly evolved person like you think for themselves? I have no obligation to share with a short-tempered pigtail brat such as yourself." Accelerator answered, showing zero empathy.

"I realllly hate that guy." Kuroko's face tensed up as she watched them leave for the conference room.

"Now, now, Shirai-san. He might be a coworker, so you gotta get along."

"There's no way someone as ill-mannered as him would get to work at judgment!" Kuroko rebuked hostilely at Uiharu.

Inside the room, they took a seat opposite each other.

"Well?" Yomikawa asked, staring at accelerator.

"Sigh...I know the cause of death." Accelerator said, scratching the back of his head.

"Really? How?"

Yomikawa folded her right foot on her lap.

"Remember last night's talk?"

Yomikawa leaned forward to show interest.

"It is fresh in my mind."

"Well, it's like that." Accelerator stated. "The cause of death is magic" If this shocked Yomikawa, she didn't show it.

"'Those without talent' wanted to be able to do the same things as 'those with talent'. That's how magic came to be but espers can't achieve that. Doing so would mean facing a harsh penalty, your organs and blood vessels would burst as a result. I've only tried it a handful of times but trust me when I say it's not something we espers should do." Accelerator explained

"Magic is not something to be used by 'talented people'." Accelerator rested his hands on the long coach rest and continued. "The circuitry is different between 'talented people' and 'untalented people'. The 'talented people' cannot use the systems created for the 'untalented people'. It was not created for people who have talent in the first place. Whenever an esper performs magic they become severely injured. The incompatibility largely results from a combination of the human body's inability to host two different power systems at the same time, tearing apart blood vessels and burdening nerves all across the body."

"So, It's more a life-or-death gamble between instant death or being severely injured because of a blood vessel rupture then," Yomikawa concluded and Accelerator nods.

" It all depended on whether the burst blood vessel is something you can survive, or if the blood vessel to burst was in your brain or somewhere that could lead to serious injury. Healing power or not if the wrong blood vessel burst, then you would still die."

"Huhh." Yomikawa leaned backward.

"This raised a question, however, how did he acquire knowledge to use magic? Even though magic exists, unless he gets the basic grasp of it you can't do it. Doesn't matter if you repeat an action a thousand times, unless you refined your life force you'll never get results." Reaching into her pants pockets, she searched for something.

"Well, he was found handling his phone."

Yomikawa pulled out her phone and scanned through it.

"What did you find?"

"The usual stuff. Though something interesting was a tab on the net, not only was it on his browser it was the first thing displayed when we got access to his phone. He died looking at a weird website."

"What was it?" Yomikawa leaned in and showed Accelerator her screen "A page called R & C Occultist. Their Services deal with magical things like charms, fortune-telling, dispelling bad luck, and creating spiritual items. They even have lecture videos providing training sessions for basic breathing and meditation techniques."

"Aleister made absolutely sure there wouldn't be any doorway for such a leek. The only answer for this would be.." Accelerator muttered, pulling back.

Unlike other places, Academy City runs on its own network and is detached from the normal internet that the rest of the world uses. External lines that connect to the outside internet all have to pass through an external Connection terminal to make contact. So the only people who can spread the knowledge of magic, on such a high scale, in a short period could only be...

"A board of director," Yomilkawa answered, doing the same.

"Somehow they got information about magic and spread it through Academy city private network."

"What were they planning on achieving? This...wait..would they really?"

"Well considering the circumstances, maybe. I rather keep an open mind though."

Maybe they did that to ruin his rain over the city. Maybe they were upset and thought if they can't have it no one can or maybe they were doing it as cover for something.

Accelerator had no idea which it could be, odds are it's all of the above but he knows he has to nip this in the bud here and now before the damage spreads even more and destroys the city.

Thankfully, Aleister had already come up with a failsafe. In an emergency there are four terminals found in School District 3, School District 2, School District 12, and School District 13; that can all be cut off to completely separate Academy City from the outside internet.

But He responded too late. Even if they succeed in cutting the network, the damage the site causes has already been done. What's more, some might have downloaded and screenshot information for a later time.

All they can do is weaken grasp.

"The escapees, repairs, security then this. One thing after the other. Since anti-esper technology specialized in dealing with espers we equipped the guards with sufficient ordinary weapons but... the boar member probably used the escape as a smokescreen. Most likely they intended to keep everyone busy to let this spread." Yomikawa got up and exited the room.

"Yea." Accelerator agreed.

"There's no reason to cry over spilled milk. The die has already been cast. What we have to do now is evaluate the damage and build up our defenses. Once this is dealt with we mount an attack." Yomikawa got up and with Accelerator following, they walked back to Kuroko and the others.

"Umm excuse me. Could you go through all your reports and check to see if similar cases pop up. I want you to report back to me their location. In the meantime, I'll call my team to gather the same reports from the other branches." Yomikawa ordered the young officers.

"Yes, ma'am. All hands on deck saten. You're helping." Kuroko pointed at the Accelerator.

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

With Touma's attention on her, Index explained what she meant.

"Prudence, which translates in Latin: Prudentia. Prudentia is a woman depicted with the Roman goddess of Justice, Justitia, and is contracted from providentia meaning 'foresight, sagacity'."

"That guy must have twisted its interpretation to give him future vision," Othinus added from his shoulders.

"...Pant...Eha...Pant... Eha."

While watching his attacker groaning from his lying position, Wataru laughed and walked to him at a snail's pace.

Behavior like that wasn't uncommon. It was a tactic used to display dominance and control over a situation. Putting the fear of God into opponents, they fall into despair and become petrified.

"So, what do you say?" Wataru asked him.

As the man attempts to get up, rather than giving in to fear, he tries to think of a way to survive. So far his actions have shown going up against Wataru in a head to head battle was pointless since he somehow was able to predict his attacks. Though he found it impossible to achieve this, his thoughts shifted to how he can escape.

In terms of danger level, Wataru was the highest among the three. It would be foolish to think that him planning on escaping hadn't crossed their minds but in terms of actually achieving it, a man who could predict his attacks would hinder that.

And he decided to get around that by turning a negative into a positive.

His now formed plan was simple. He planned on shooting Wataru in the pelvic to the pit of the abdomen area.

Should Wataru dodge or if he doesn't dodge, he would run to the box of crates on his left, and even if the two men behind him looked their way, they wouldn't fire.

Not only would Wataru be close to him but if he chased him, they would refrain from doing so because he would be in the line of fire.

If Wataru stays put, he would lay down suppressive fire there way to escape, and if Wataru does pursue he would shoot at Wataru either slowing him down or killing him.

From there, after mixing in with the surroundings, he will use a mixture of gorilla warfare, psychological warfare, and themselves to wipe out the three.

When Wataru was the perfect distance away, he turned around and pointed the suppressor at him. It was at that moment, out of nowhere, a box flew into the side of Wataru's head and knocked him to the floor, allowing him to dodge the bullet fired.

Having been given the opportunity. He made a beeline for the crates thirty feet away as fast as he could, alerting the two men messing with their phones. Like expected, the two men in the far corner of the room didn't release a furry of thin metals at him.

Instead, they charged at him. But when he fired bullets of his own, they halted partway and hid behind some nearby crates.

That temporarily bought him time as he ran.

For five seconds he was safely running to his destination but when Wataru was a safe distance away from the line of fire, he had to avoid the gunshots that tore through the air and aimed to pierce his body in quick succession.

Proceeding through the gunfire for seven more seconds, grazing him at random parts, he planted both feet to the same spot and jumped in a front somersault over a nearby crate.

Landing in a stooping position, he purposely lost balance and used the momentum to hurriedly press his back against the crate.

"PFF! BWOP! THUD! BFFF!"

With the sound of bullets hitting boxes and crates, he took three quick breaths and readied himself to fire back when he took notice of a spiky hair boy beside his right side.

"What the hell, it was kids who saved me...Whatever, thanks." The man snapped out of his shock.

"Sure thing."

As he said so, Touma took a peek over the crate, and immediately, his head was pulled back down by a hand, barely missing a bullet by a hair's breadth.

"What's wrong with you, kid!" The man shouted but the sound of gunfire and torn materials drowned his disapproval out.

"He's getting away."

Though it was a glimpse, Touma saw Wataru getting up and holding his head. Running in the opposite direction where he mixed in with the environment.

"Sigh, Wataru is probably going to the delivery elevator." The man said with his back still on the crate.

"Where's the elevator?"

"Follow the wall in your direction then look right. Don't worry I'll make sure you two escape alive."

"Touma." Index called out. At some point, sphynx came back and was lying on her lap.

"I need to stop him." Touma declared, turning in the direction.

"What?-"

Before he could voice his complaints, Touma and Index ran off. With a few second delay of cursing those two and himself out in his mind, the man laid down cover fire.

Within a couple of minutes, Touma and Index finally reached the industrial elevator.

It was a massive stainless steel freight elevator with automatic sliding doors and a vertical manual outer gate door.

"C'mon," Touma said in a frustrated low voice and repeatedly hit the button.

By the time they approached the elevator, it was already being used. Since elevators like these transport heavy and large volumes of cargo, they move at a slower speed compared to passenger elevators.

So, they had to wait some time for it to come back.

"Index, could you carry these home?" Touma asked her, lifting the bag of stuff.

"...Fine." She slowly turned her head away.

"Look," Touma stepped closer. "I promise I won't take long."

On the arrival of the elevator which was signaled by a ding sound, their conversation was cut short.

"That's not what has me concerned." Index whispered so that he wouldn't hear.

After opening up the gate both of them took the trip down to discuss Wataru's power.

The instant the elevator slid open and they pulled up the gate, Touma shot out.

When his eyes adjusted to the natural sunlight again he took notice of his surroundings.

He was in a big fenced off area that was a security area for delivering cargo, and the few people who were to stand guard were nowhere to be found.

Touma guessed they were most likely dead and missing but any signs of that however weren't there. No blood splatter or footprints existed. Probably, they were covered up by both the infiltrators and naturally accumulated snow.

Among the snow-covered ground, Wataru's freshly pressed footprints lead the way to a ledge near the passageway road. Making it there in a matter of seconds, Touma saw Wataru leaving through the gate on foot.

The chase then started.

From there, Touma chased Wataru through the filled streets of district 7. Rather than trying to catch up to Wataru and stop him in his tracks, Touma stuck with pacing himself only keeping a certain distance so he can carefully bide his time.

In a one on one battle with Wataru there was no doubt in his mind he'll come out the loser. So, he came up with the plan of burning him out. Though a man such as Wataru would have a lot of stamina and impressive training, Touma had a lot of faith in his own abilities.

They may not have been purposely sharpened like his but they are only a shy away. With his skills and determination, he'll stick to him like an adhesive.

If he is successful in wearing out Wataru, even a little, his odds of winning in a fistfight rises.

During the chase where Wataru would push through people and Touma weaved in between the sea of crowds, Touma pulled out his phone to make a call.

He wasn't sure how long this would take so he decided to call Serie and tell her he'll come by a bit later. It was better now than later because only God knows what she would do to him.

In the middle of the phone ringing, a black hair businessman was thrown on the ground by Wataru and tripped him.

"Don't think that is enough." Touma groaned, fastening his stride.

He was coming out of conservative mode now because of the widening distance. It might have used up much-needed energy but his entire plan rested on being in a sprinting distance from Wataru.

If it isn't recovered the chances of winning would fall.

Keeping up the pace they made their way out of district 7 and into District 10. Of all the school districts in Academy City District, 10 carried a certain social stigma. It's only attraction was nuclear facilities, disposal areas, and graveyards.

An area known for poor public order and suffering from urban decay.

As he surveyed the streets, Touma realized how run down and weather heavy the area was. Cracks lined every surface, windows were broken, glass shards and trash scattered everywhere.

It was still surprising to him that a place like this existed in the metropolis of science. A place which was a stronghold for many delinquents.

Somehow, the streets were empty even though there was an entire prison escape situation. Touma just guessed it was due to a small few of Anti Skill covering the area, scaring off, and dealing with the local gangs. But whatever it truly was, he was trust happy to know no one would get hurt when he confronts Wataru.

Currently, both Touma and Wataru were running on the sidewalk. A solid 10 feet separated them and as they ran past an old car for about a meter or two, Wataru turned right into a corner.

Touma hurriedly approached the alleyway, but then suddenly, he felt a wall of pressure at his chest. In that split second of a glimpse, he was shoulder tackled by a blurred image of Wataru and with a thudding sound, his back slammed into the roadside guardrail With tremendous force.

"ARAGH!"

The pain radiated throughout his body and felt so unbearable that he couldn't let out a scream, but not so much for a subdued groan. As the pounding pain from his skull and the pulse beating in his ears subsided, Touma's vision began to return and the sight that welcomed him washed him over with terror.

With a foot raised, Wataru flew in for a stomp which Touma dodged and took the opportunity to attack Wataru from behind, but before he could do anything though, Wataru was already facing him.

"Your persistent," Wataru smirked and fixed his posture "I give you that, kid." He said, walking closer to Touma but subsequently pushing him backward.

At each step, they slowly became hidden from prying eyes.

From a viewpoint of positions, Wataru has the high ground. The alleyway was a dead end and he was guarding the only entrance, cutting off Touma's escape route.

"Pant...Tell me...pant why?" Touma asked him, only trying to buy some time to catch his breath and let the occipital migraine subside.

Wataru answered with a grin that grew twice more. Then he came to a stop.

"Why do this?" Touma asked once more and followed.

"Isn't it obvious? To put you spoil brats on a leash. You all have such great power but all you ever do is waste it to cause an unneeded problem. Look around you, the major cause of incidents is always, you damn kids. You've heard this saying, right? 'With great power comes great responsibility' A concept you children don't seem to grasp. That's my deal. You brats need a guiding hand to channel that and a harsh authority figure to punish you when you're wrong. With us adults leading the way crime can at least be reduced."

"It is true espers do cause a lot of problems and we're most definitely ranked number one but we aren't the only calamities. And we sure as hell aren't a problem that you need to resolve with your warp definition of justice."

"Hehehahaha. Listen up boy, and take my word as law, nothing in this world can't be achieved without resorting to violence?"

Shortly after that, Wataru's fists shot up and so too did Touma's.

As he crouches, Wataru's body bounced from off the snow-covered ground and bolted towards Touma for a punch.

However, Touma steps into his swing and cross countered by bending his body downwards, allowing Wataru's fist to pass overhead, then delivered an uppercut to his jaw.

The hit sent Wataru staggering backward several steps, doubling over in pain and bewilderment.

To finish this as quickly as possible, Touma ran up to him for a kick. His hope was to lift Wataru's form up in a better posture so he could knock him out with a punch that carried all his weight.

But.

Things didn't work out as planned. Though Touma's feet did plant themselves into Wataru's stomach, he purposely let them too so he could grab Touma's foot.

Wataru firmed his grip and rotated both their bodies around, only getting to a 180-degree angle because Touma had swung his elbow downwards, onto Wataru's head, causing the ironclad grip to be released.

Thrown like a jet ski skidding on water, both Touma and Wataru stumbled from their previous positions. But now, the scene was different, their positions were changed. Instead of Wataru guarding the escape route, it was Touma.

As they both picked themselves up, Othinus decided to reveal herself from underneath Touma's hood and pop into the fight with nothing but words.

"Foolish Human, your power is far too simplistic to work on my human." She said high and mighty, her intention with this conversation to help Touma recover. "Though it gives you foresight that is only a few seconds in the future. Not only that but it only works on one person at a time. Something as dumb is that is good for nothing but street brawls. Even if this boy didn't have an automatic counter to your half-ass ability it still wouldn't be a threat to him."

"Hehehe, Whatever. I am justice so I will prevail." Wataru cracked his neck. "You haven't forgotten... I'm ex-Anti-skill." He continued, inaudibly muttering something.

Seeing that, Touma felt a wave of danger, and the hairs to the back of his head rose like a bent bamboo shoot being released. Gritting his teeth, he rushes forward, acting on the feeling rather than his eyes.

It took less than 5 seconds for what happened next.

Where Wataru's chest was, a multifaceted surface of rainbow smudges glimmered and revealed a tactical vest. It was a durably black nylon military vest with three front rectangular pouches where the middle one was wider than the others; The two behinds were a gun holster and a knife pouch. Made for assassination, it had a camilion stealth feature build in and an exclusive voice recognition software, as well as a self destruct fail-safe to ensure secrecy.

Hanging from the lowest region of the vest were two cans of grenades. Wataru grabbed one of them and pulled the pin with his right thumb.

With an underhand throw, as though to swat a disobedient baby, Wataru casually pitched the grenade to Touma.

Touma's mind went into overdrive. The mass wave of fear passed through every cell in his body and made the launch look like it was in slow motion. The fear of death sent a chill down his spine, making him choke on a caught breath, but even so, he still refused to let it consume and hinder him.

From what he knows and has experienced, with the pin pulled, a grenade will not just detonate. Before that occurs something else happens.

The spoon.

The pin holds the spoon in place against the side of the grenade. When the spoon is let go, it ignites the fuse and it usually takes anywhere between two to six seconds for it to explode.

There was only one thing he could do in this situation. He would have to go up against the grenade. Touma felt his body run cold with fear but with his heart pounding against his chest, he began to act.

When the spoon is released by shooting out, the countdown to the explosion occurs.

"RHRRRRR!"

Adrenaline rushed through Touma's entire body as he reached the distance, the gathered strength in his foot kicked the grenade over the left building wall that makes up the ally.

Thankfully for Touma, not all of the buildings in this district were high rise. It was only because the alleyway they were in was surrounded by two small convenience stores that this was possible.

Immediately afterward, the grenade went off. But for some reason, rather than an expansion of flames, it was a blinding flash of white followed with an extremely high pitch echo.

And that was when Touma realized his mistake. He was too overcome by the grenade and fear to not realize his stupidity.

Would someone as ambitious as Wataru really throw a live grenade that close to himself? To be tricked by the false cloaked design of the stun grenade was one thing but to not realize this, was further beyond idiotic.

With a toddler chuckle, Wataru carried out his true attack. As Touma saw Wataru leap toward him, he went on the offensive and gave a front kick.

Touma had no intention of actually hitting Wataru with something as simply a front kick. His true purpose was to only ward off any immediate advances from him.

But, Wataru didn't fall for the feint. Stepping into Touma's right front kick, Wataru parried the foot with a downwards arm block of his left arm and slammed Touma's chest with a powerful bear paw palm strike which pushed Touma backward.

"Arkkk!"

Following Touma's leg, which slides along the parried arm until his ankle reaches the start of his arm, Wataru moves his left hand to grab Touma's right wrist into a one-handed wristlock.

With Touma's body now halted from falling to the floor, hanging only by his right hand, Touma was opened for three attacks.

Wataru yanked on Toma's locked palm like a leash three times, two of which pulled Touma close enough so he could be battered with two quick but heavy punches.

Exposed to the freezing winter air, Touma's face was all bloodied from cuts, two of which lined the bridge of his nose and above his left eye.

Then came, the third and final yank that pulled Touma's body inwards. Wataru rose his right foot and launched it into Touma's side, therefore sending him to stagger to the direction of the wall.

Feet away from touching the wall, Touma's left crimson-pink vision became unusable as the blood leading to the eye increased. Before he could reach and lean on the wall for a split second of rest, Wataru had already rushed him in three wide steps.

Touma felt the backhand fist attack connect across his right cheek and was sent spiraling horizontally.

He mustered up strength in his quivering legs and didn't fall to his front or back. He was posing sideways, shoulders facing his enemy and panting. His arms were limping and his legs felt like they were about to collapse underneath him.

Touma's sense of disorientation was so strong from that backfists strike that he didn't realize he was leaning backward until Othinus shook him awake by asking,

'Is this all your resolve amounts too?'

Filled with even more determination, Touma refused to fall. He mustn't, if he does, that would mean game over. Someone of Wataru's stature and skills would surely overwhelm him if his degree of freedom was limited.

'Always keep your eye's on the enemy.' He repeated to himself in his mind.

But.

When he turned his head, there was an instant numbing sensation. Touma was confused at first but within 0.5 seconds, he registered the feeling. It was the rough surface of Wataru's steel-knuckled fist cracking against his jaw.

It carried his entire weight behind it. So, you can bet Touma's brain got rattled as it was forcefully pushed.

However, Touma was no ignorant fool. He was very adaptive. Touma's head deliberately shifted, following along the path of the punch.

He let the punch travel along his face by following its path. By doing so, he reduced the damage that came with resisting.

He didn't end it there.

That wasn't all Touma did.

While the punch slid past his right cheek, Touma launched an attack of his own.

He gathered strength in his right fist and once more uppercuts Wataru. It connected to the underbelly of his jaw, shooting his head upwards to peer at the azure blue sky and his feet took several steps back from Touma.

He pushed past the fear surging through his system.

He pushed past the pain in his head and the ringing in his ears.

Touma pushed past everything that was hindering him and charged at Wataru.

Wataru was a finely built man and a well-trained soldier, so Touma's intended hit shouldn't kill him. This may be a gambit but if it doesn't pay off...

Now in front of Wataru, Touma reached both his hands out, interlocking the fingers around Wataru's neck and like using a sledgehammer, forced Wataru's upper body down. At the same time, he also used the built-up power from the rush to force a powerful knee strike to Wataru's sternum.

It felt like he was hitting a tough piece of wood. The pain sends a jolt in his knee cap and since it was like a reflex test, where the doctors use those small hammers, Touma's foot extended and kicked Wataru's body away from him.

Touma steeled himself and readied to rush forward but halted before completing a single step.

His vision faltered. It was more wonky than distorted. His sense of balance felt disturbed and the light his retina received felt like saltwater.

"Damnnn...pant...pant..do I have a concussion!" Touma said with a raspy voice.

His vision went from colorful to black.

Then something happened within that blink of an eye.

The distance between Touma and Wataru wasn't large. It was possible to cover it within a few seconds of a sprint.

And In that short time, Touma's face grimaced in pain. Wataru's attack, a powerful elbow strike that was given more force by his left arm, sunk into Touma's abdomen and lifted him off his feet.

"Gyahhh!"

His vision became unfocused. His mind foggy and his breath caught. All the air in his lungs was forcefully ejected out as his diaphragm relaxed and his rib cage shrunk back in.

Even before Touma's feet could touch the ground, Wataru commenced a follow-up attack. He gripped Touma's hair tightly, yanking on the strands, and hurtled the spiky hair boy's head into his raised high knee.

Touma's upper lip sank into his top teeth, subsequently snapping his nose and making him taste blood.

He was on the verge of hyperventilating.

The knee strike rattled Touma's mind. It was far worse than becoming nauseated from spinning around during hide and seek. Simple calculations like 2+2 became difficult. He couldn't tell left from right, up from down nor purple from black. He wondered if this was like experiencing a G force test during flight training.

Touma's face shot upwards from the hit; small sprinkles of blood, spit, and snot left his mouth and nose but his tattered body was still denied relief as he received a sidekick to his sternum.

He rolled backward 2 meters, skidding on the cold floor and leaving a shuffled path in his wake.

lying there on the snow-covered floor, his face looking at the clouds, Touma's body was like an annoying aunt; reminding him of the screaming pain and that he still had difficulty breathing, thinking, and seeing.

Even though he saw dark splotches in the corners of his eyes, Touma leaned his aching upper body up. As he did, Touma saw Wataru's fist was only 12 inches away and winced on reflex for the punch, only to not get it.

When he opened his eyes, in that fraction of a second, sound seemed to vanish. A great green beam of light blurred his vision.

And.

When it dissipated, from Wataru's fist to his wrist disappeared, leaving a wet sticky orange color at its stump.

At the edge of the corner Touma had chased Wataru in, was a sizzling orange glow and a little deeper in was another one on the left wall. Both connecting to give a diagonal trajectory.

Touma wasn't given time to react and was silent for a time.

Wataru was so nonplussed that he too didn't say anything. He merely stared at the sizzling stump and stepped backward with widened eyes.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" His screams fell on deaf ears. As abruptly as his screams started, Wataru swung his head repeatedly in a 360 motion.

Finally given time to process what had happened, Touma quickly shot forward. He planted his left foot, grit his teeth, and with his full weight behind it, punched Wataru with a ranged thud, cutting short the screams.

Like being clotheslined, Wataru's body whipped backward and smacked headfirst into the snow-covered floor.

Touma looked down at his foe, vibrations passing through his fist. Giving a deep and long puff with his cold breath, he fell onto the snow-covered ground a victorious man.

"Pant...Pant...pant...Pant."

It was finally over. He won.

That might have taken 5 minutes from the time Wataru tackled him till now but those were his longest 5 minutes ever.

" You did good but I have to cut your rest short. We need to leave before those adults come." Othinus said, coming out of her hiding.

"...I know." Touma said in between panting. Picking himself up, he limped out the ally.

"Everywhere hurt, guess I'm going to spend a good chunk of my winter recovering and doing homework. On the topic of the hospital, better call Index." Touma continued, searching through both his pocket but still couldn't find his phone.

"Damn it." He muttered depressingly. " I lost my phone!" He shouted towards the sky and grabbed his head.

"Sorry, but that's not what should be worrying you now."

"Yea, I know. The mystery of how Wataru knows and learned about magic comes first."

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

Three minutes have passed since the two dropped in guesses left without revealing a hint of anything, leaving Uiharu, Saten, Kuroko, and Konari as the only people present in the judgment office.

Even though there was lots of paperwork to be done, the four girls were seated in the waiting area for drinks.

Their arrangement was Uiharu and Saten at one couch, and Konari and Kuroko at the other.

"I can't believe it. Out of the entire judgment branches, there have been 15 cases, 7 of which are in critical condition while the remaining 8 are dead." Uiharu muttered sadly. Her eyes were locked on the juice can between her hands.

"We weren't even given any information about the case, dammit." Kuroko spat as her grip on the grape can tighten.

"Well, that is to be expected. It is members of Anti-skill who were meant to investigate serious criminal activity occurring in the city. In situations like these, it is Anti-Skill who has greater authority." Uiharu answered.

The other two girls said nothing, only taking small sips of their drinks and stared at their cans.

"Yeah, I know..but still. Something big is happening here. If everyone doesn't-

"I think you should rest for now. All of you." Konari declared. "That wasn't a normal case and there were many deaths."

"But."

"Shirai." Her voice became firm.

"What about Hitomi? What will Anti-skill do about her?" Saten asked Konari.

"Well with the way things played out a cover story won't be enough. They'll probably tell her to keep quiet. That or have an esper deal with the problem. If word got out there would be an uproar and not just in the city. There is a reason why we are closed off from the rest of the world."

"What about you, sempai? Are you staying?"

"Yup, I have my reports to do."

"We-"

"No. You will do that another time." She demanded and everyone agreed with a nod.

R&C Occultics, a mysterious IT company specializing in Magic. That is what started this whole mess. That one website was found on all the victim's phones, appearing on the internet at some point after the attack on the Queen Britannia.

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

A famously built Skyscraper complex in Academy City. In one part of that building, on the topmost floor of the 70 -storey high rise structure was a darkly lit office.

The room was a fairly large open space area, big enough to hold several racing cars, and positioned horizontally there in the office was a long glass table with five chairs at both sides. Right behind that, in front of the skyscraper window which had it's automatic window blinds closed was an oil polished wooden and metal desk with a cup of pencils on it to the left.

Seated behind the desk in a black leather chair was a fancily dressed man in a suit. He was a well built slim middle-aged man with perfectly groomed blue-purple hair, dressed in a button-up dark blue suit over a baby blue undershirt, and a deep blood red tie.

Though he usually has a neutral expression, his Sharp facial features and purple diamond eyes made him a textbook example of bishounen.

The only source of light in the room, a cream-colored apple laptop, pinged with a received message. As he checks it he sees it is from the new Board Chairman, Accelerator, asking for all of the members of the board to meet up tomorrow at 8 PM.

"Seems my plan got found out quicker than expected but no matter, everything is still moving smoothly." The handsome man said, pulling out his phone.

Powered on, he typed in his four-digit code and opened up the gallery app. When he found what he was looking for, pressed share then selected two contact numbers and sent them two different pictures.

The pictures were .chr photo files of a red acrobike and a miniskirt Santa costume that had to be converted into, png files, binary, alphanumeric texts, and Base64 code to read:

'Send them out at random intervals' and ' Stay on standstill until contacted.'

=o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o= =o=o=o=o=o=

The white lines on the highway road continued on and on and on as the Anti-Skill vehicle drove through the light traffic.

After finishing up their business at Sakugawa Middle School, Yomikawa offered to drive Accelerator home before returning to her duty.

They were moving at a slow pace, not under or over the speed limit, heading for the Family side complex in complete silence.

Seated at the back, Accelerator tightly grips the smartphone in his right hand, contemplating everything as he finds comfort in leaning on the right car window.

The threat they were facing was too big of a problem for Academy City alone to deal with.

It is true, with the people and technology here in Academy City they could easily take down the site and track its source but that won't stop everything. All they would accomplish with those efforts is temporarily halt the enemy. Another site can be opened as many times as need be. That was why Accelerator resorted to extreme measures, it might be considered as ignoring the situations to others but to him, it was buying time.

Even if they tracked down the source, fighting them would be an enormous risk. In terms of power, magic trumps science by a landslide, and with how thinly of a state Academy City is in confronting them would breed bad news.

That's why he needs allies. Not just from the science side but the magic side as well. Before Academy City was in an alliance with the major players of both sides but with everything that has happened, that might not be the case.

He would have to form a connection with at least one of them to integrate into the alliance easier but if he hopes to achieve that, he must first deal with his own problems.

Academy City was in an unstable situation at the start but now it's gotten worse and if he hopes to resolve it, he needs people he can trust.

Leaning of the window, Accelerator searched through the many contacts for a particular number and called it.

[Yes.]

"Care to guess who this is?"

[...Your voice sounds familiar. Hmmm-]

"Here, let me help. 'This is my Good. This is the method of a man who lives in a world of despicable people yet still follows justice' That should drag your memories."

[I was getting to that, you know. Not many kids know me or this number but since you said that, you're the first rank. What can I do for you?]

"What are you reduced to now."

[Well my job entails just being a bodyguard for hire but I still do little assassination jobs here and there. Not as much as before but those types of jobs weren't my things so it's ok. The dark side is still active but just not like before.]

"Then come and work for me, the new Board Chairman of Academy City. I have the money to support you just as good and better than those others. You can still do that bodyguard job on the side but my one rule is no more assassination."

[Well this is quite the development. Why me though?]

"Because you're someone I feel is trustworthy."

[Well I'm honored. I too feel like you're someone trustworthy. When do I start?]

"Tomorrow at 8 PM. I'll text you the address."

While driving the car, Yomikawa made frequent glances at the rearview mirror with a solemn expression. She was looking at the albino boy, overhearing his conversation, and couldn't help the urge of feeling scared.

She had hoped this boy would live a peaceful life and she was looking forward to it but this new position threatens that.

Along with it comes the horrors and despair he was faced when he was young. It wouldn't be so odd to think he might revert to those dark days because it opened up the possibility of him being dragged back into the dark.

One mustn't forget, ideals can also be used as shackles and not just for power. Either something happens which will break his ideals and change him or strengthens it by pressuring him and also produces the same results.

The choices he would make as ruler of science will affect the fate of this entire planet and that in itself is a heavy burden to put on someone, especially a child.

She just hopes she would never have to break her most important rule but now that she was seated here, she could not claim ignorance.

No matter how dark and cold your world is, i'll always drag you out because your no a monster, just a child that needs my help

Those were her resolve put into words and each word was of great importance to her. If she was going to help this new Board Chairman, she would stay by his side and make sure he stays on that glimmering path.

**The fight scene was the most difficult part to write but I hope you like it and found the magic power created somewhat tolerable. I'm slowly working on choreography so don't worry. It will get better**


End file.
